On page 205 of the PDF file, of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, there is some pork for bicycle commuters!
Looks like Uncle Sam will give $20 a month to anyone who:
“regularly uses the bicycle for a substantial portion of the travel between the employee’s residence and
20 place of employment”
There’s also a somewhat nebulous “bicycle commuting reimbursement”:
for reasonable expenses incurred by the employee during such calendar year for the purchase of a bicycle and bicycle improvements, repair, and storage, if such bicycle is regularly used for travel between the employee’s residence and place of employment.
I hope this means that the Federal Government is going to buy me a new Atlantis to ride to work, but I kind of doubt it.
I think it’s safe to say that the country has now officially lost its mind.
Update: The deal is done. The Bike Commuter Benefits Act is now law.
I believe it’s an employer reimbursement deal, so you’ll have to get your employer to go along with it. My employer, who is ahead of his time, has been providing me with bike parts for several years. He will be happy to see that there is now a tax deduction for it.