Legislation that would boost funding for federal trucking regulators and pre-empt state laws concerning meal and rest breaks for truckers was easily advanced by a House panel on July 11.
The legislation taken up by the Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee would provide the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration with $758 million, a $113.6 million increase over the fiscal 2017 enacted level.
Nearly half of that funding would be used for safety assistance programs, $31.8 million for commercial driver license implementation program, $43.1 million for high-priority activities, and $1 million for a commercial motor vehicle operators grant program.
Also, the bill includes a provision aimed at pre-empting states from enacting laws pertaining to truck drivers’ meal and rest break requirements. According to the bill, a “state, political subdivision of a state, or political authority of two or more states” may not enact or enforce a law having to do with those requirements. A Senate aviation reauthorization bill recently approved by a committee included a similar provision.
The House bill would prohibit FMCSA from proceeding with a safety fitness determination rule until the U.S. Department of Transportation’s inspector general issues certain certifications required under law.
In all, the bill would provide $17.8 billion for the DOT’s discretionary budget for the next fiscal year. The Trump administration requested $16.2 billion for the department. Republican funding leaders agreed not to provide funding for Obama-era infrastructure grants.
Subcommittee Chairman Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) emphasized the legislation would provide about $100 million for automated trucks and cars. “This is an important investment that will give DOT the tools to keep pace with this technology that is now reality,” he said.
The subcommittee’s ranking member, Rep. David Price (D-N.C.), criticized the push to undo the infrastructure grants, known as TIGER. A fiscal 2017 funding law approved $500 million for the program.
“Mayors and governors across the country are clamoring for more TIGER grants. Sometimes it seems the program’s only fault in the view of its critics is that it was established by President Obama,” Price said.
The legislation advances to the Appropriations Committee, where Democrats are expected to propose amendments aimed at boosting funding for TIGER grants and stripping away trucking-centric provisions.
