When Congress reached a deal to avert the "fiscal cliff," the Senate included a provision raising the federal transit benefit to $240 a month, up from $125 and more than the benefit available for parking. The transit benefit had been $230 per month until the beginning of last year, when a provision in the law re-set it to the lower level. Unfortunately, the $240 benefit is also temporary, expiring at the end of 2013. One transportation lobbyist who had been pushing for the transit benefit noted that while Congressional Republicans had been strongly opposed to any tax increases and to letting tax cuts expire, they hadn't extended that passion to the transit benefit.
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