A lot happened in federal transportation last week:
The House Transportation proposes to extend SAFETEA-LU through September 30, 2011.
The full House passed a bill funding federal agencies for the rest of FY 2011. Many people are speculating that House-Senate negotiations will drag out and cause a temporary shutdown of federal agencies.
The President proposed a FY 2012 that would significantly reorganize transportation programs.
Florida rejected $2.4 billion in federal passenger rail grant funds. Gov. Gregoire announced WA state is ready to accept some of that funding for WA state's ready-to-go projects.
Status Reports on legislation:
Authorization, SAFETEA-LU
T-LU is extended through March 4 2011, per language in the continuing resolution. It's likely that another short term extension will be enacted. Most observers think it's unlikely a multi-year bill will pass until after the Presidential election. Both the House and Senate have started conducting hearings on a new authorization bill. Related stories: Will Earmark Ban Apply to the Transportation Authorization Bill? and House Field Hearings Will Seek Input On Next Transportation Bill
The House GOP adopted a new legislative rule that will allow the House to allocate less transportation funding than is authorized by SAFETEA-LU. The Senate is not likely to follow suit, setting up a contentious negotiation on the FY 2012 appropriations bills later this year. Read about the potential impact on WA state.
Appropriations
USDOT and federal agencies are funded through March 4 2011. House Republicans have redrafted the House's FFY spending bills, and proposes to reduce FY 2011 transportation spending by $11.5 billion. The bill will not include earmarks, with the Senate now following the lead of the House and President Obama.
See these stories for details:
No Earmarks for Two Years, What Happens Next with Earmark Funds?, Omnibus is Dead and What Transportation Lost When the Omnibus Died. The Omnibus bill designated about $221 million to 57 projects in WA state. (The dollar amount was reduced from the earlier Senate draft bill.)
Aviation Authorization:
The Senate and House each passed authorization bills in mid-February. The FAA authorization is currently extended through March 31st, 2011, the 17th extension since the authorization bill expired at the end of fiscal 2007.
Climate Change
Bipartisan legislation to delay EPA's looming regulations of green house gas emissions died in December. Senator Boxer announced she will continue to work to protect EPA authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. Democratic Senator Jay Rockefeller said he would reintroduce legislation to suspend the EPA's authority, and several bills to delay or strip funding for EPA's greenhouse gas rules have been introduced in the House.
