Capitol Agenda for the Week of June 13: Chao Meets Appropriators
The week ahead for trucking on Capitol Hill.
Chao by Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg News The guys who went against President Trump’s wishes and stuck funding for TIGER grants in a fiscal 2017 law will hear out Transportation chief Elaine Chao on June 15. Of course, we’re talking about the House appropriators, the cool kids on the Hill who have a big say over what programs get money.
The transportation appropriations leaders, Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) and David Price (D-N.C.), have done infrastructure funding their way for several years. Aside from looking to inject about half a billion dollars for the Obama-era infrastructure grants in fiscal 2018, the lawmakers are likely to ensure modest funding for passenger rail systems and transit programs despite the administration’s objections. Worth watching will be whether policy aimed at clarifying a meal-and-rest-break rule will come up during the House hearing June 15.
The secretary, fresh off her second “infrastructure week” of the year, will valiantly defend the fiscal 2018 budget request of $200 billion over 10 years to incentivize private capital of about $800 billion. The request’s objective is to achieve a $1 trillion investment for roads, bridges, ports and tunnels.
Chao’s boss, whom insiders dubbed the “builder-in-chief,” pledged to privatize lots of the transportation system and to streamline environmental reviews for federal projects. As he said at the U.S. Department of Transportation on June 9, those reviews do nothing but enrich consultants and “make you do unnecessary things that cost billions and billions of dollars and they actually make it worse.” Let’s wait and see what the appropriators think about that.
THE WEEK AHEAD (all times EDT):
June 14, 8:30 a.m.: The Woodrow Wilson Center holds its fourth annual "Building a Competitive U.S.-Mexico Border" conference with Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas), Reps. Will Hurd (R-Texas) and Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R).
McKinleyJune 14, 10 a.m.: The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee holds a hearing on self-driving vehicles with Mitch Bainwol, president and CEO of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, and John Maddox, president and CEO of the American Center for Mobility in Michigan.
June 15, 9 a.m.: RealClearPolitics holds a discussion on "Building the U.S. Economy: The Construction Industry's Role” featuring Rep. David McKinley (R-W.Va.), and Tom Bevan, co-founder and publisher of RealClearPolitics. June 15, 9:30 a.m.: The House Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee holds a hearing to review the administration’s fiscal 2018 funding request for DOT. Chao testifies.
June 15, 1 p.m.: The House Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee meets to review the administration’s fiscal 2018 budget request for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Administrator Scott Pruitt is scheduled to testify.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
JOINT EMPLOYER: Guidance for holding companies responsible as joint employers for labor violations by their contractors was rescinded, the Department of Labor announced the week of June 5.
MILITARY DRIVERS: FMCSA announced two proposed rules, one that would allow states to issue a commercial learner’s permit for up to one year, and the other a waiver that would help ease the transition for members of the military to become commercial truck and bus drivers. FMCSA called the two proposals “steps toward responding to a national shortage of qualified truck and bus drivers.”
PMA: Trump’s proposal to sell energy facilities as a way to partially back a long-term infrastructure funding plan has been met with bipartisan opposition on Capitol Hill. Twenty-one senators have called on Energy Secretary Rick Perry to reject a proposal in the fiscal 2018 budget request aimed at auctioning power marketing administrations, or PMAs, to promote investments in infrastructure.
WHAT WE’RE READING:
From the guys who were fact checking before it got cool, the Gray Lady breaks down Trump’s portrait of the country’s transportation network.
FAVORITE QUOTE:
“This is part of a greater focus by the administration to remain responsive to the needs of the public and industry, rather than pushing a ‘top down, government-knows-best’ approach to regulation. We expect this process will help us uncover ways to assist in better deploying infrastructure — ways we hadn’t even thought of.”
— Deputy Transportation Secretary Jeffrey Rosen on the department’s efforts to alleviate unnecessary regulatory burdens.
FAVORITE VIDEO:
If words are not your thing, White House staffers produced a video detailing aspects of the president’s infrastructure plan.
FAVORITE TWEET:
Western Pennsylvanians stick together as evidenced by House transportation panel Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.), showing the love for Stanley Cup winners Pittsburgh Penguins.
Thanks for reading Capitol Agenda. We publish Tuesdays when Congress is in session. E-mail emulero@ttnews.com with tips. Follow us @eugenemulero and @transporttopics.
