Capitol Agenda for the Week of May 23: House Showdown Ahead
Trucking regulations are poised to dominate parts of a May 24 House Appropriations Committee hearing on a fiscal 2017 transportation funding bill. Democrats on the panel, led by Rep. David Price (D-N.C.), threatened to undo aspects of the legislation having to do with 2013’s hours-of-service rule for truckers, a meal and rest break pre-emption, and a slowdown of a proposed safety fitness determination rule at the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The Republican-led committee backs the provisions, and leaders said they are intent on sending the bill to the floor of the House by early summer. The $58 billion transportation funding bill, while nearly $5 billion less than President Obama’s request, would provide an $889 million increase over fiscal 2016 levels. “This bill keeps our nation’s transportation infrastructure safe, accessible and more efficient for all travelers,” Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) said. Like Price, several Democrats in the Senate had opposed trucking provisions in their version of the bill. Those Democrats didn’t publicly fight Republican leaders in committee or the floor on the matter. Last week, the Senate passed the bill with the trucking provisions included with overwhelming support.
THE WEEK AHEAD (all times EDT):
May 23, 10:30 a.m.: The House Appropriations Committee will take up a fiscal 2017 transportation funding bill.
May 26, 3:30 p.m.: Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx will speak about the department’s Smart Cities challenge at New York University.
BARLETTA HEARTS THUD: Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Pa.) is pretty pleased with the House transpo funding bill’s safety fitness determination provision.
ENO ON FREIGHT: “Congress should appropriate general fund revenues for a national multimodal freight discretionary program,” is one of the recommendations in the Eno Center for Transportation’s recently released report on freight titled, “Delivering the Goods.”
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
Lee by David Elfin/Transport TopicsNUMBERS MAN: A higher percentage of federal Highway Trust Fund dollars will come from diesel fuel taxes and other fees on trucks as future government rules require ever-better gas mileage for passenger cars, Joung Lee of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials said during an Infrastructure Week session May 19.
BUT A THOUSAND LAKES: Minnesota became the seventh state to fail to pass a fuel-tax increase this year as its legislative session ended at midnight May 22 with no agreement on a long-awaited major transportation funding package despite the state’s $900 million budget surplus.
THE OT: The White House on May 18 unveiled a rule that raises the overtime pay exemption threshold nationwide, a move many businesses and industries have criticized.
WHAT WE’RE READING: Writing for The Atlantic this month, Steve Viscelli examines the trucking industry through the perspective of a few truckers.
FAVORITE QUOTE:
“Has the concept of user fees for this system reached its sell-by date?”
— Jeff Davis with the Eno Center for Transportation during Infrastructure Week, speaking about the federal transportation system’s reliance on fuel taxes to pay for infrastructure projects despite improvements on fuel efficiency.
FAVORITE VIDEO:
Christine Hydock of FMCSA explains why the agency is looking for comments on sleep apnea.
FAVORITE TWEET
Not everybody was singing Infrastructure Week’s praises. On May 20, Angie Schmitt, writing in Streetsblog, came through with a contrarian perspective.
The problem with "Infrastructure Week" #infrastructurematters https://t.co/XLfYwKuI5U pic.twitter.com/WRpd3Fetc4 — Streetsblog Network (@StreetsblogNet) May 20, 2016
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