"MOVING AHEAD FOR PROGRESS IN THE 21st CENTURY"

 // process of approval for the congressional bill H.R. 4348

This project analyzes the congressional voting patterns for the bill ‘Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act’ (H.R. 4348). The act was voted on by both the House and the Senate and was signed into law by President Obama on July 6, 2012. The bill funded over $105 billion in surface transportation programs for fiscal year 2013 to 2014. The act has four main goals: to raise the bar of entry for industries operating on our roads; to hold motor carriers and drivers to the highest safety standards; maintain infrastructure condition; and to remove high risk drivers, vehicles, and carriers from the nation’s roads and to prevent them from operating. This project analyzes the voting patterns for both the House of Representatives and the Senate by party, as well as by mileage of major roadways per district and state.

// timeline of the progress of the bill

The bill was referred to the House of Representatives in April of 2012.  The House voted in favor of the bill with little to no adjustment and it was sent to the Senate later that month. The Senate had several amendments to the bill, so they renamed their new version S. 1813 and sent it back to the House. From there the bill went to Conference. This means that the Speaker appoints several committees to debate the different aspects of the bill. Once all of the amendments are resolved the bill is voted on again. The House and Senate both approved the bill on June 28, 2012.  On July 5th, the President signed the bill and it became law.

This project uses data queried from the New York Times ‘The Congress API’ which provides summaries of roll-call votes for the House and Senate as well as information about bill actions. It was a collaborative project; other group members included: Kellie Radnis, Olivia Jovine, and Yuheng Cai.

Sources: NY Times API, U.S. Census Bureau: Tiger/Line - U.S. Primary Roads, U.S. Census Bureau: U.S. Congressional District Boundaries, U.S. Census Bureau: U.S. State Boundaries

download the full group project report here.