KERN COMES OUT FUNDING WINNER AS OTHERS LOSE.Byline: Lisa Friedman Washington Bureau WASHINGTON - The San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. got just $130 million of the $400 million it sought for an expedited car-pool lane designed to ease congestion The condition of a network when there is not enough bandwidth to support the current traffic load. congestion - When the offered load of a data communication path exceeds the capacity. for hundreds of thousands of motorists a day driving home on the 405 Freeway. The San Gabriel Valley The San Gabriel Valley is one of the principal valleys of southern California. It lies to the east of the city of Los Angeles, to the north of the Puente Hills, to the south of the San Gabriel Mountains, and to the west of the Inland Empire. got only $155 million of the $900 million it requested for the Alameda Corridor The Alameda Corridor is a 20 mile (32 km) freight rail "expressway"[1] owned by the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority (AAR reporting marks ATAX East, a massive freight-rail network needed to open the logjam log·jam n. 1. An immovable mass of floating logs crowded together. 2. A deadlock, as in negotiations; an impasse. Noun 1. between the nation's busiest seaport and the nation's railroads. But Kern County - population 744,325 - got more than $700 million from the federal transportation spending bill approved Friday by Congress, leaving many wondering how Rep. Bill Thomas For other people with similar names, see . William Marshall Thomas (born December 6 1941), commonly known as Bill Thomas, American politician, was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1979–2007, representing the 22nd District of landed the funding for his Bakersfield district. ``This bill is supposed to be about equitably dealing with congestion. A congressional district Noun 1. congressional district - a territorial division of a state; entitled to elect one member to the United States House of Representatives district, territorial dominion, territory, dominion - a region marked off for administrative or other purposes trumped the largest state in the country with the worst transportation problems. It flies in the face of logic,'' said Keith Ashdown, spokesman for Taxpayers for Common Sense Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS) is an nonpartisan federal budget watchdog organization based in Washington, D.C. in the United States. TCS is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization; its 501(c)(4) affiliate is Taxpayers for Common Sense Action (TCS Action). , a Washington, D.C.-based watchdog group. California lawmakers and corridor supporters were careful not to accuse Thomas of impeding other allocations in the $286.5 billion federal transit bill now awaiting President George W. Bush's signature. But several officials in both Washington and the Southland said the amount of money obtained by Thomas - including $140 million from a fund reserved for projects of ``national and regional significance'' - underscores how parochial interests often win out when millions of dollars are at stake. ``Everybody is talking about the money Bill Thomas got. I'm hearing it all through the county. The (bill) may as well be known as the 'Thomas Guide to Transportation Funding,''' said Metropolitan Transportation Authority member John Fasana, who represents San Gabriel Valley cities. Thomas, a Republican who chairs the powerful House Ways and Means WAYS AND MEANS. In legislative assemblies there is usually appointed a committee whose duties are to inquire into, and propose to the house, the ways and means to be adopted to raise funds for the use of the government. This body is called the committee of ways and means. Committee, has taken credit for bringing home $722 million in highway-project funding for his 22nd District - about $1,128.25 for each of its 640,000 residents. ``I really don't understand that one,'' said Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald Juanita Millender-McDonald (September 7, 1938 – April 22, 2007) was an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1996 until her death in 2007, representing California's 37th congressional district, which includes most of , D-Torrance. ``All I can say is that he's a very powerful chairman.'' The funding for Thomas' district includes $330 million for the Centennial Corridor Loop, an eight-lane expressway and interchanges to serve downtown Bakersfield, and $100 million for highway improvements for western Bakersfield. ``This is what we run up against, people trying to get money for local projects,'' said Jack Kyser, chief economist The Chief Economist is a single position job class having primary responsibility for the development, coordination, and production of economic and financial analysis. It is distinguished from the other economist positions by the broader scope of responsibility encompassing the for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. ``Intrastate pork barrel competition is what you could call it - and, evidently, he won,'' Kyser said. Thomas did not return repeated calls for comment. But he issued a statement saying, ``Bakersfield is one of California's fastest-growing cities. Our main roads simply cannot accommodate today's needs, let alone tomorrow's growth.'' But supporters of the Alameda Corridor say their project is important not only to ease Southland traffic along the freight rail corridor - expected to increase by 160 percent over the next decade - but also to the country. The project would build 35 miles of freight rail through the San Gabriel Valley between East Los Angeles East Los Angeles, uninc. city (1990 pop. 126,379), Los Angeles co., S Calif., a residential suburb of Los Angeles, in an industrial area. It has a large Mexican-American population. There is a performing arts center and a cultural center. A junior college is there. and Pomona to transport cargo containers from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to the transcontinental rail network. The corridor carries 25 percent of the nation's goods eastward from the ports to the rest of the country. According to corridor officials, the project serves an area of nearly 2 million residents and 30 municipalities. Leading California Republicans, whose districts the corridor runs through, called it their No. 1 priority for federal funding in the transportation bill. It also topped California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's list. Lisa Friedman, (202) 662-8731 lisa.friedman(at)langnews.com LOCAL PROJECTS Rep. Bill Thomas got funding for the following projects for the 22nd Congressional District: --Centennial Corridor Loop - $330 million for the eight-lane expressway and interchanges to serve downtown Bakersfield. --Rosedale Highway - $60 million to add lanes and make other improvements from Highway 99 to Highway 43. --Beltway System - $100 million to make highway improvements for western Bakersfield. --State Route 178 - $100 million to widen and improve the highway. --State Route 46 - $92 million to widen the road from two lanes to four from Interstate 5 near Lost Hills to the Kern-San Luis Obispo county line. An additional $33.4 million goes to widen the highway in San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo (săn l  `ĭs ōbĭs`pō), city (1990 pop. 41,958), seat of San Luis Obispo co., S Calif., near San Luis Obispo Bay; inc. 1856. County.
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