Today the Senate began consideration of MAP-21, a two year surface transportation reauthorization bill. The first order of business was to approve a “motion to proceed” which passed by a vote of 85-11, demonstrating strong bipartisan support. The bill is now open for debate and amendment. It is anticipated that the bill will be on the floor for several days.
By a vote of 17-7 and one present vote, the Senate Finance Committee today approved a list of revenue enhancers to provide the $5.5 billion necessary to fund MAP-21, the Senate’s two year transportation reauthorization legislation. The vote was largely bipartisan with four Republicans joining the Committee Democrats in supporting the measure.
Following an historic 18 hour markup session that ended at 2:45 am eastern time, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved, by a vote of 29-24, H.R. 7, the American Infrastructure and Infrastructure Act of 2012. The committee considered over 100 amendments and adopted 33. The House Ways and Means Committee today passed the revenue title to the bill and the Natural Resources Committee approved its portion of the legislation on Wednesday. The three titles will now be bundled together into one bill and is likely to be addressed by the full house as early as the week of February 13.
Today, the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee began consideration of H.R. 7, the American Infrastructure and Infrastructure Act of 2012. Over 100 amendments will be considered. The committee began action at 9:00 a.m. and is still meeting on the legislation. The committee markup was notable for the partisan bickering between the majority and minority over the drafting of the bill. No Democrats have cosponsored the bill.
ż’s chief executive officer, Stephen E. Sandherr, issued the following statement today in reaction to newly-proposed surface transportation legislation released by House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica:
"Chairman Mica has done tremendous work pulling together legislation that provides the kind of comprehensive reforms needed to restore Americans’ faith in the federal highway and transit program. In particular, the legislation will significantly accelerate transportation improvements across the country by cutting the needless red tape and regulatory redundancies that have forced projects to languish for years awaiting federal approval to move forward. In addition, the legislation’s commitment to maintaining current funding levels, despite the current budgetary environment, reflects a fundamental appreciation for the broader economic benefits of investing in transportation infrastructure.
House and Senate negotiators on the long-awaited final Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill have reached an agreement. Details of the conference agreement are not yet available. Senate Aviation subcommittee chairman John D. Rockefeller (D-WVa) issued a statement which says the conference agreement is a bill lasting four fiscal years (the remainder of FY 2012 plus FYs 2013, 2014 and 2015) with, "Annual funding for FAA's programs are consistent with the FY 2012 appropriated levels for the next four years." The Airport Improvement Program has contract authority of $3.35 billion per year.
The Congressional Budget Office today released its semiannual projections for Highway Trust Fund balances which are based on their assumptions about revenue and outlays. These estimates make no assumptions or projections about the results of the current reauthorization process. Instead, the estimate simply assumes contract authority at current levels and uses inflation factors on the obligation limitation (actual funding).
House and Senate negotiators on the long-awaited final Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill have reached an agreement. Details of the conference agreement are not yet available. Senate Aviation subcommittee chairman John D. Rockefeller (D-WVa) issued a statement which says the conference agreement is a bill lasting four fiscal years (the remainder of FY 2012 plus FYs 2013, 2014 and 2015) with, "Annual funding for FAA's programs are consistent with the FY 2012 appropriated levels for the next four years." The Airport Improvement Program has contract authority of $3.35 billion per year.
With only 66 days remaining until the expiration of the latest highway and transit authorization extension, today ż kicked-off a comprehensive grassroots and communications campaign asking Congress to take action on a reauthorization bill before March 31, 2012.
Work on an authorization bill for highway and transit funding continues in both the House and Senate. The current extension of the authorization expires on March 31. The authorization still faces many obstacles in both chambers, however, this is the closest Congress has come to passing a transportation bill since the current authorization (SAFETEA-LU) expired on Sep. 30, 2009.