SaysWho? Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/29/us/politics/house-democrats-infrastructure-plan.htm Quote House Democrats on Wednesday plan to unveil a five-year, $760 billion framework for rebuilding the nation’s highways, airports and other infrastructure, laying out an election-year package with little chance of enactment after bipartisan talks with the White House on the issue failed to gain traction. The outline, billed as the “Moving Forward Framework,” provides a foundation for legislation that is currently being drafted or debated in House committees, according to a senior Democratic aide who was familiar with the plans but was unauthorized to discuss them before a public announcement on Wednesday. Quote The 19-page plan to be proposed by Democrats includes $329 billion for investment in transportation systems, including improving safety measures for bicyclists and pedestrians, and $105 billion for transit agencies and maintenance needs. The framework also includes $55 billion in railway investments for both the expansion of the country’s passenger rail network and improvement of Amtrak stations and services, $19.7 billion for the upkeep of harbors and ports, $86 billion for the expansion of broadband access and additional funds to address greenhouse gas pollution and increase climate resiliency. There will also be $21.4 billion for the preservation of clean drinking water and communities dealing with toxic chemicals that can contaminate drinking water, known as PFAS. Democrats struggled to include stronger regulations for PFAS in must-pass defense policy legislation late last year, and passed a stand-alone measure in early January. And while the framework also includes transportation and infrastructure legislation routinely addressed by Congress, Democrats made a point of emphasizing efforts to counter climate change and its effects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b_m_b_m_b_m Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 If you're creating a bill that is sure to die in the Senate, the least you can do is give passenger rail more than a mere $55 billion. This is a good start Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
osxmatt Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 Damn, infrastructure week already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricofoley Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 How about we reverse the road and train numbers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uaarkson Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 The road funding is a waste of money anyway unless 100% of it goes to maintenance. America needs to stop building new highways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b_m_b_m_b_m Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 7 hours ago, Uaarkson said: The road funding is a waste of money anyway unless 100% of it goes to maintenance. America needs to stop building new highways. We need road diets, so we need money to actively reduce lane miles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha1Cowboy Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 8 hours ago, Uaarkson said: The road funding is a waste of money anyway unless 100% of it goes to maintenance. America needs to stop building new highways. We need telework incentives. Half the people in our IT dept could telework...but Management and Mid Level Burecrats won't let that happen....and it's the same pretty much on every other projecy I've worked on in the DC area.....if they did you cut DC traffic by 1/4th I bet. For me it's a 10 minute 5 mile drive....most other people drive an 45 minutes to an hour around the Beltway and further. If only we could take helicopters to work and social events like the cake eaters.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b_m_b_m_b_m Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 31 minutes ago, Alpha1Cowboy said: We need telework incentives. Half the people in our IT dept could telework...but Management and Mid Level Burecrats won't let that happen....and it's the same pretty much on every other projecy I've worked on in the DC area.....if they did you cut DC traffic by 1/4th I bet. For me it's a 10 minute 5 mile drive....most other people drive an 45 minutes to an hour around the Beltway and further. If only we could take helicopters to work and social events like the cake eaters.. Service workers can't telework. And all the talk of long commutes in the DC area is just a reminder that we need zoning reform and need to build a lot of housing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CitizenVectron Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 50 minutes ago, Alpha1Cowboy said: We need telework incentives. Half the people in our IT dept could telework...but Management and Mid Level Burecrats won't let that happen....and it's the same pretty much on every other projecy I've worked on in the DC area.....if they did you cut DC traffic by 1/4th I bet. For me it's a 10 minute 5 mile drive....most other people drive an 45 minutes to an hour around the Beltway and further. If only we could take helicopters to work and social events like the cake eaters.. My department (IT) for a school division has had telework for 5 years. New director came in, found out, and tried to take it away. The only thing that saved us was the lack of office space to move everyone else in. The reason they wanted us there? "Teacher's can't telecommute, so no one else in the division should be able to." There are a lot of dinosaurs out there running things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brandino Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 8 minutes ago, CitizenVectron said: There are a lot of dinosaurs out there running things. That reminds me of a time I was consulting for a credit union in the DC area. I was an IT consultant and lived in Chicago. They had me fly out there Monday-Thursday with WFH on friday. I guess before I came on, they had everyone out there through Friday as well. They had to fight to get Fridays home, and the only reason for it was the head of that department didn't like WFH. The company had all the infrastructure set up for remote work too. I missed Diwali because they wouldn't let me work remote. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost_MH Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 33 minutes ago, CitizenVectron said: My department (IT) for a school division has had telework for 5 years. New director came in, found out, and tried to take it away. The only thing that saved us was the lack of office space to move everyone else in. The reason they wanted us there? "Teacher's can't telecommute, so no one else in the division should be able to." There are a lot of dinosaurs out there running things. That sounds familiar. I worked for a company that was acquired. Prior to the acquisition, folks generally only came into the office 4 days a week and telecommuted the fifth day or came in all five days and went half day on Fridays. It was up to employees and their managers to choose whatever it is they wanted to do. New company came in, bought us, and said no more of that. Reason? Because their other offices don't have that option. Hell, I had to travel to another office for maintenance window to work on servers in my office, remotely...because that's where everyone else is during maintenance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CitizenVectron Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 17 minutes ago, Ghost_MH said: That sounds familiar. I worked for a company that was acquired. Prior to the acquisition, folks generally only came into the office 4 days a week and telecommuted the fifth day or came in all five days and went half day on Fridays. It was up to employees and their managers to choose whatever it is they wanted to do. New company came in, bought us, and said no more of that. Reason? Because their other offices don't have that option. Hell, I had to travel to another office for maintenance window to work on servers in my office, remotely...because that's where everyone else is during maintenance. Sounds about right. The reason the new director even knew about our telecommuting was because other office staff (in HR, payroll, etc) were jealous of our perks. The thing is...our manager drew up recommendations years ago with guidelines on what type of employee could be allowed to telecommute or not. Obviously people who need to physically do their jobs in the office could not leave (receptionist, caretaker, etc), but many others in the division could, if approved. But instead of pushing for their own telecommuting they tried to take ours away. Pretty standard behaviour in an office environment, unfortunately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anathema- Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 8 hours ago, b_m_b_m_b_m said: Service workers can't telework. That is INcorrect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b_m_b_m_b_m Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 10 minutes ago, Anathema- said: That is INcorrect. Not All Service Workers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anathema- Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 4 minutes ago, b_m_b_m_b_m said: Not All Service Workers I do most of my work remotely now, just from a desk in the office. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b_m_b_m_b_m Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 I mean service workers aren't just office drones Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperSpreader Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 4 hours ago, b_m_b_m_b_m said: Not All Service Workers #notMyServiceWorker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Massdriver Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 I'm all aboard the public transit train!! Let's blanket America with rail, light rail, buses, trams, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uaarkson Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 None of it matters if we don’t take a serious look at zoning too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Massdriver Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 1 minute ago, Uaarkson said: None of it matters if we don’t take a serious look at zoning too. Absolutely . Upzone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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