$10.8-Billion Transit Bill OKd

Lawmakers gave final congressional approval today to the $10.8-billion transportation appropriations bill for 1989, several days after its most controversial provision--a requirement that airlines pay benefits to employees whose jobs are lost or whose incomes are diminished due to mergers--was removed.

The House approved the measure on a voice vote shortly after the Senate adopted the bill on a voice vote of its own. The bill, which also includes $14.7 billion in transportation programs funded from fuel and air travel taxes, would funnel $3.2 billion to mass transit, $12.2 billion to highway programs, $6.3 billion to aviation and $2.8 billion to the Coast Guard. It provides $584 million in grants for Amtrak.