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Senate committee advances ‘livability’ bill

The Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee advanced to the full Senate a bill that would authorize $2.2 billion in grants to preserve affordable housing and integrate transit with land use for the so-called livable communities initiative.

The bill, S1619, would authorize a new office of livable communities, which would cost $475 million in start-up money from general funds. Grants would be marked to come from Housing and Urban Development funds, but it may not end there.

Separate legislative efforts in recent weeks have sought to include a buy-in from the Highway Trust Fund for livable communities but those efforts are on a different path.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-CT, introduced S1619 in August 2009. Since then, lawmakers and policymakers have argued about what makes a community livable and, more importantly, where the money should come from.

The leadership of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association is watching the initiative closely. OOIDA believes funding for livable initiatives such as bike paths, walking trails and transit should not be expensed through the Highway Trust Fund.

“They can pass this thing, but until the appropriators actually give them the money to do this stuff, they can only take an authorizing role,” said OOIDA Director of Legislative Affairs Mike Joyce.

“We’re always leery that appropriators may come along later and try to steal dollars from the Highway Trust Fund to pay for initiatives like this,” Joyce added.

“We are going to be diligent in our efforts to protect highway dollars from going to livability that should already be clearly marked for highways and bridges.”

According to Dodd’s bill, the office of livable communities would work with the Federal Transit Administration of the Department of Transportation to “encourage transit-oriented development; and … coordinate federal housing, community development, and transportation policies” among other things.

S1619 has a companion bill in the House, HR4690, sponsored by Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-CO.

Communities and planning organizations would be eligible for grants if the projects promote and integrate affordable housing, mobility, transit and the environment.

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