Jim Riley, Director, Government Affairs
John Boling, Director, Government Affairs
Joe Colaneri, Director, Government Affairs
Patricia Maeder, Division Coordinator
www.nssga.org
Action Center
e-Digest
- SENATE TAKES ONE-WEEK BREAK
- SENATE KICKS OFF HIGHWAY REAUTHORIZATION DEBATE; TCC MEMBERS BLITZ HILL URGING CONGRESS TO "GET IT DONE"
- CONGRESS PASSES $2.6 TRILLION BUDGET RESOLUTION PACKAGE
- SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE BEGINS ASBESTOS TRUST FUND MARKUP
- SCIENTIST CONFIRMED AS NEW HEAD OF THE EPA
- RESOURCES COMMITTEE HEARS ESA SUCCESS STORIES IN MISSISSIPPI
- NEPA TASK FORCE WANTS TO HEAR FROM YOU
- HOUSE AND SENATE MOVE TOWARD POSITIVE PAC REFORM
- DEADLINE APPROACHING FOR THE '06 JENNIFER CURTIS BYLER SCHOLARSHIP
SENATE TAKES ONE-WEEK BREAK
The Senate has taken a one-week recess although the House will be in session this week. The Senate will return to work next week and TEA 21 reauthorization will top the agenda. Also, the Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to continue to mark up the asbestos trust fund legislation.Meanwhile, the House Appropriations Committee will begin marking up FY '06 spending bills in earnest with the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee marking up its bill, which includes USGS funding, on May 4. (See following article.)
SENATE KICKS OFF HIGHWAY REAUTHORIZATION DEBATE; TCC MEMBERS BLITZ HILL URGING CONGRESS TO "GET IT DONE"
At long last, the Senate began consideration of SAFETEA, S. 732, on April 26, coinciding with the TCC Fly-In. More than 450 TCC members blitzed Capitol Hill urging members of the Senate to "Get It Done" and to support the expected Grassley-Baucus amendment to increase the bill's funding level by between $7 billion and $16 billion. NSSGA appreciates the large number of its members who took the time to come to Washington to push for reauthorization. NSSGA members held meetings with all of the congressional leadership and were able to communicate the importance of this legislation to their businesses.Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) had hoped to get the bill passed by the recess. But, when it became obvious that there were too many issues yet to be resolved before the break, members held back on amendments so they would not be pending for a week.
The Senate voted on one controversial proposal offered by Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.), narrowly rejecting his amendment on a 51-49 vote to lift a requirement in the bill that states spend two percent of their highway construction money to alleviate pollution from storm water runoff. The TCC supported Bond's attempt to free an additional $900 million for highways, arguing that states already have the ability to use money for storm water mitigation and that another federal mandate is unnecessary. The chief proponent of the storm water set-aside, Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), argued the mandatory set-aside would assure that some federal money would be available for the states to help pay for compliance.
When the Senate returns, Finance Committee leaders Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Max Baucus (D-Mont.) are expected to offer an amendment to increase the funding level of the bill. It is still uncertain how much of an increase they will propose, but the White House last week issued a statement threatening a veto if the bill exceeds the $284 billion funding level approved by the White House. Click here for the White House veto message.
Sen. Inhofe hopes to finish work on the highway bill by the end of next week. NSSGA has distributed a letter to all senators in support of the Grassley-Baucus amendment and will continue working with its coalition partners to achieve Senate passage of the reauthorization bill in order that action on a multi-year reauthorization is completed before the May 31 expiration of the current TEA 21 extension.
CONGRESS PASSES $2.6 TRILLION BUDGET RESOLUTION PACKAGE
Following the House of Representatives' 214 to 211 vote, the Senate voted 52 to 47 to approve a $2.6 trillion budget for Fiscal Year 2006, which starts Oct. 1. Included in the budget resolution is $106 billion to accommodate extending provisions of the 2001 and 2003 tax relief packages. Also included in the package is $35 billion in mandatory programmatic savings, which allows the various Congressional authorizing committees to restructure mandatory spending programs. Importantly, the package allows enough funds for the transportation reauthorization package moving through Congress. According to the managers, the budget keeps Congress on the path of cutting the deficit in half by 2009.Although the House-passed budget resolution assumed collection of a user tax on explosives, the final budget resolution passed by Congress cut the budget savings required of the Judiciary Committees in half and leaves it up to the committees to determine how to make the savings. NSSGA will meet with Judiciary Committee staff to make this point. Previously, we expressed our opposition to the proposed fee in a letter to the House Judiciary Committee.
The budget resolution calls for three budget reconciliation bills: one for tax, one for spending, and one for raising the debt limit. All bills are due by September and by the rules governing the reconciliation process, cannot be filibustered and require a simple majority for passage. NSSGA will continue to follow the reconciliation process to protect the industry's interests.
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE BEGINS ASBESTOS TRUST FUND MARKUP
The Senate Judiciary Committee commenced markup of the asbestos trust fund bill, S. 852. on April 28. NSSGA was able to insert a clarification of a definitional change in the draft to ensure protection of the aggregates industry. The clarification of "amphibole asbestos" to "asbestiform amphibole minerals" was included in a manager's amendment. Also included in the manager's amendment at the request of Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) was a study of ambient asbestos and methods of detecting it. NSSGA will continue working with the Committee to refine the study parameters so it is not redundant, but consistent with industry efforts for development of new methods for determining ambient asbestos.After disposing of 16 amendments, the committee postponed for two weeks consideration of dozens more. Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) has the backing of seven committee members for the bill, while six others have indicated they oppose the bill. Ten Republicans and eight Democrats sit on the panel. Specter must win over three of the five committee members who remain undecided including: Republicans John Cornyn of Texas, Sam Brownback of Kansas, and Jeff Sessions of Alabama, and Democrats Herb Kohl of Wisconsin and Charles Schumer of New York.
Even if Specter succeeds in advancing the bill in committee and on the Senate floor, the outlook in the House is unclear. House Judiciary Committee member Chris Cannon (R-Utah) on April 28 introduced a bill, H.R. 1957, that would keep asbestos cases in the court system but apply a set of medical criteria to determine which cases could advance. NSSGA will continue efforts to protect the aggregates industry from any adverse impacts of the asbestos trust fund legislation.
SCIENTIST CONFIRMED AS NEW HEAD OF THE EPA
In what is widely seen as a victory for the "sound science" movement, the Senate last week confirmed Stephen Johnson, the Environmental Protection Agency's acting administrator, to serve as the EPA's next administrator. Johnson, nominated in March, takes over from Michael Leavitt, who now heads the Health and Human Services Department.Administrator Johnson has worked at the EPA for nearly 25 years and is the first person with a science background to lead the agency. As EPA Acting Deputy Administrator, Johnson instructed agency officials to prioritize economic concerns in their environmental decision-making. Johnson holds a Master's Degree in Pathology from George Washington University. Prior to joining the EPA, he had worked as Director of Operations at Hazelton Laboratories Corporation and Litton Bionetics, Inc. NSSGA congratulates Administrator Johnson on his confirmation and looks forward to working with him on areas of mutual concern.
RESOURCES COMMITTEE HEARS ESA SUCCESS STORIES IN MISSISSIPPI
The House Resources Committee held a field hearing last weekend in Jackson, Miss., titled, "Lessons Learned Protecting and Restoring Wildlife in the Southern United States under the Endangered Species Act." The ten witnesses, from government agencies to private conservation programs explained how the use of innovative programs have helped save and restore species. This is the first in a series of field hearings across the country on the Endangered Species Act and the need to update it after 30 years. Reports on the April 30 hearing are slow coming in. NSSGA will update you on any items of interest as may be warranted in the next e-Digest. For more information, please contact John Boling.
NEPA TASK FORCE WANTS TO HEAR FROM YOU
The House Task Force on Improving the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is holding a series of field hearings to bring in field reports of how NEPA can be improved. Details of future field hearing locations, dates and times will be passed on to you as soon as the Task Force announces them. Considering how NEPA affects the construction industry, make plans to attend if you are nearby. It is very important that the business sector attend these hearings and submit statements, even short statements, on the effects of NEPA on their operations. Environmentalists overwhelmed the initial hearing in Washington State. It is crucial for industry sectors to seize these hearings to attest to the impacts of the statute. For information on how you can participate, submit a statement for the record, or for more information, please contact Pam Whitted.According to the Task Force website, when NEPA was signed into law in 1970, it was meant to be a "Declaration of National Environmental Policy" for the federal government. To meet this goal the federal government is required to consider environmental factors and impacts in decision-making. NEPA analyses are required for many federal actions and permits including timber harvests, mining permits and leases for oil and gas exploration. However, NEPA also applies to other projects. NEPA can require analyses for housing developments, infrastructure for travel and commuting, water and irrigation projects, wildlife restoration and habitat management, airport management and even military bases. Click here for more information on the Task Force.
HOUSE AND SENATE MOVE TOWARD POSITIVE PAC REFORM
Last week, the Senate Rules and Administration Committee reported out S. 271 - the "527 Reform Act." Sen. Robert Bennett (R-Utah) unexpectedly introduced PAC-friendly amendments that, among other things, would increase individual contributions to PACs by 50 percent, increase PAC contributions to candidates by 50 percent, index all PAC-related contributions for inflation, allow corporations to give prior approval to more than one association per year, and repeal the twice yearly restriction on corporate PAC solicitations outside the restricted class.In the House, Chairman Bob Ney (R-Ohio) and the Committee on House Administration are likely to markup H.R. 1316 - the Pence-Wynn bill - as soon as this week. This piece of legislation, sponsored by Reps. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) and Albert Wynn (D-Md.) would index contributions into and out of a PAC for inflation and repeal/reform the prior approval regulations imposed on trade associations.
NSSGA supports repeal of the prior approval requirement and indexing PAC transactions for inflation as has been done for individual donors and is working to build support for this legislation.
DEADLINE APPROACHING FOR THE '06 JENNIFER CURTIS BYLER SCHOLARSHIP
The May 31 Jennifer Curtis Byler Scholarship application deadline is rapidly approaching. If you have an interested family member, please remind them to take a few moments to apply. The Jennifer Curtis Byler Scholarship Fund was established in 2002 to memorialize the life of a sand and gravel producer's family member and to perpetuate her interest and involvement in the political process. This scholarship is awarded annually to the child of an aggregates industry employee who wishes to pursue collegiate studies in public or government affairs. Applications are being accepted until May 31. Contact the Government Affairs Division if you have questions.