The latest news from the Transportation Conference Committee

On May 16 Secretary Ray LaHood sent a letter to Senator Barbara Boxer and the conference committee expressing the administration's support for a new transportation bill and raising a warning about proposed cuts that would undermine environmental protections for future projects.

As the first week of conference committee approaches it's end one conference member was quoted ""We haven't really gotten into the meaty stuff yet. The staff-level negotiations are basically going through the Senate bill and the House bill and familiarizing themselves with each side's position and start working from there."

There have been many rumors, such as "GOP hints it'll part with Keystone XL pipeline to finish highway bill", but little hard news. California Senator Barbara Boxer, Chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works is said to be in meetings with John Mica, Chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure committee. Even with the pressure of the election ahead of us, most pundits agree that we are still a long way from seeing a cohesive and passable bill.