Jim Riley, Director, Government Affairs
John Boling, Director, Government Affairs
Patricia Maeder, Division Coordinator
www.nssga.org
Action Center
e-Digest
- TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY MINETA RESIGNS
- LINE ITEM VETO PASSES HOUSE; SENATE ACTION UNCERTAIN
- THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE INTERSTATE CONVOY ARRIVES IN WASHINGTON, D.C. THIS WEEK!
- HOUSE TO CONSIDER SCIENCE, STATE AND JUSTICE SPENDING BILL
- FY '07 SENATE INTERIOR & ENVIRONMENT SPENDING PLAN TO BE REVEALED THIS WEEK
- HOUSE PASSES DEATH TAX COMPROMISE; ACTION MOVES BACK TO THE SENATE
- DRILLING BILL PASSES COMMITTEE HEADS TO HOUSE FLOOR
- PRESIDENT ISSUES EXECUTIVE ORDER ON EMINENT DOMAIN
- NSSGA LAUNCHES IMPROVED GRASSROOTS WEB SITE
TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY MINETA RESIGNS
The White House announced the resignation of U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta on June 23. Mineta submitted his resignation letter to President Bush earlier in the week. His resignation is effective July 7.
Over the past four decades, Mineta has been an advocate for the nation's transportation system and the aggregates industry. The secretary's bipartisan approach to transportation ensured the enactment of SAFETEA-LU, the largest transportation bill in history. Mineta earned widespread acclaim for his handling of events on Sept. 11, 2001, when the entire nation's transportation infrastructure was dealt a severe blow and temporarily incapacitated.
Prior to becoming secretary of transportation, he served as secretary of commerce in the Clinton administration. Mineta served in Congress from 1975 through 1995, where as a leader of the House Committee on Public Works and Transportation he was instrumental in the passage of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Equity Act (ISTEA) of 1991. He served as vice president of the Lockheed Martin Corporation after leaving Congress and also chaired the National Civil Aviation Review Commission, which made recommendations on reducing traffic congestion and reducing the aviation accident rate.
NSSGA will follow the search for a new secretary of transportation and will keep you up to informed of developments.
The House of Representatives passed the Legislative Line Item Veto Act on June 22, by a 247 to 172 vote. The measure allows the president to propose a package of spending cuts to spending bills and receive an up-or-down vote with no opportunity for amendments or right to filibuster in the Senate. Before passage, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) included in the manager's amendment language protecting transportation trust funds. Simply stated, the language says that any funds from vetoed transportation provisions revert back to the trust fund from which they originated.
NSSGA issued an Action Alert and sent a letter to all members of Congress opposing the possible diversion of transportation trust funds revenues for non-transportation purposes. Thanks to all those who called their members of Congress. Your efforts, coupled with the efforts of our coalition partners, convinced Congress to do the right thing and keep trust in the Highway Trust Fund.
Attention now turns to Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), chairman of the Senate Committee on the Budget, and his larger budget reform package which passed the budget committee on a 12 to 10 vote. The Senate package would establish a new federal budgeting process, including deficit limits, spending caps and line-item rescission authority for the president. Committee Democrats were unified in their opposition and offered a substitute, which was rejected. The fate of the budget reform package is uncertain. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) has stated he would like some form of budget control to be considered by the Senate before the end of the year. NSSGA will continue to follow the debate and work to make sure any budget reform package or bill will protect transportation trust funds.
LINE ITEM VETO PASSES HOUSE; SENATE ACTION UNCERTAIN
Transportation Trust Funds Protected
The events celebrating the 50th anniversary of the National Interstate Transportation System and recreation of the first Transcontinental Motor Tour, which led President Dwight D. Eisenhower to sign the law creating the National Interstate Highway System almost four decades later, will reach their pinnacle June 28 and 29 in Washington, D.C.
A forum entitled "The Interstate Highway System - Fifty Years and Looking Forward" commences at 11:30 a.m. on June 28 and will bring together leaders in the transportation industry to discuss the future of our nation's surface transportation system. The American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and the Transportation Construction Coalition (TCC) are the lead sponsors of the forum. NSSGA's SAFETEA-LU Reauthorization Task Force Chairman and Vice Chairman, Mike Stanczak of Material Service Corp., and Dianna Saraf of Dan Gernatt Gravel Products, Inc., with Government Affairs Chairman Paul I. Detwiler, III of New Enterprise Stone & Lime Co., Inc., will participate on behalf of the association.
The recreation of the Transcontinental Motor Tour, which commenced June 16 in San Francisco, will conclude when it arrives June 29 in Washington, D.C. NSSGA has been following and participating in events commemorating the anniversary of the largest public works project ever undertaken in the U.S. and will provide in-depth coverage in the Sept./Oct. issue of the Stone, Sand and Gravel REVIEW.
THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE INTERSTATE CONVOY ARRIVES IN WASHINGTON, D.C. THIS WEEK!
Last week the House Committee on Appropriations approved the FY '07 Science, State and Justice (SSJ) appropriations bill allowing it to be considered by the full House later this week. Included in the bill is a controversial provision allowing for a half-cent per ton tax on makers and importers of explosives. NSSGA has repeatedly opposed the administration's reoccurring proposal to include up to two-cents per ton tax to help fund the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF), by generating about $120 million per year. During consideration of the bill by the Appropriations Committee, Rep. Don Sherwood (R-Pa.) stood in opposition to the ill-conceived tax along with Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-Mo.), but both were overruled by SSJ subcommittee chairman Frank Wolf (R-Va.). The provision is subject to a point of order on the House floor because it is legislating on an appropriations bill. The judiciary committee has jurisdiction over the BATF and a member of the committee is expected to make the point of order. NSSGA is working closely with its partners in the Safety & Security Alliance for Explosives (SSAFE) to ensure the tax is stricken from the measure on the House floor.
HOUSE TO CONSIDER SCIENCE, STATE AND JUSTICE SPENDING BILL
NSSGA Opposes Explosives User Tax
The Senate Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee plans to reveal how it wants to allocate $26 billion in discretionary spending when it meets June 27 to consider its FY '07 spending bill of the same name. The allotment is about $100 million more than the House and $500 million more than the administration's request. The bill mainly funds the Department of the Interior and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) programs. The full Senate Committee on Appropriations is expected to take up the bill on June 29, clearing it for the Senate floor. The House passed its version of the spending bill on May 18.
NSSGA is concerned with the administration's proposal to cut $4.4 million from the Mineral Information Team (MIT), which would seriously impact its commodity data collection function. Similar to action taken in the House, NSSGA has sent a letter to and met with staff to subcommittee chairman Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) and senior subcommittee Democrat Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) opposing proposed cuts to this much-needed program. NSSGA will continue to monitor the progress of the Interior and EPA appropriations bill and insert itself into the process where industry needs are concerned.
FY '07 SENATE INTERIOR & ENVIRONMENT SPENDING PLAN TO BE REVEALED THIS WEEK
The House of Representatives passed compromise legislation on permanent repeal of the death tax June 22 by a margin of 269-156. The compromise exempts $5 million for an individual and $10 million for a couple. Income above those levels would be taxed at the 15 percent. Estates worth more than $25 million would be taxed at a 30 percent rate. Under current law, the death tax is being phased out and will disappear in 2010. However, it reverts to pre-2001 levels in 2011, with maximum rates of 55 percent, unless Congress acts prior to then.
Action now moves back to the Senate which has yet to hold a straight up or down vote on any death tax legislation. Earlier this month, the Senate fell three votes shy of ending debate on permanently repealing the entire estate tax. Since that time, efforts have been underway to craft a compromise that could pass both the House and the Senate. It is estimated that ten senators who voted against complete repeal of the death tax by refusing to end debate on it may be persuaded to vote in favor of this compromise.
NSSGA is a member of the Death Tax Working Group that pressed for complete and permanent repeal and is now backing the House-passed compromise bill that will offer relief for the vast majority of those subjected to the death tax.
HOUSE PASSES DEATH TAX COMPROMISE; ACTION MOVES BACK TO THE SENATE
Last week the House Committee on Resources passed H.R 4761 by a 29 to 9 vote, which would remove the 25-year old ban on oil and gas exploration and production in the outer continental shelf (OCS) and allow states to decide whether or not to allow oil and gas exploration and production in the area. States are guaranteed a portion of the royalty payments under a sliding scale - the closer-in drilling occurs, the more revenue the state would receive. Of interest to the aggregate industry is a provision of the bill ensuring a small portion of the royalty revenue is directed to public universities in order to promote education in petroleum, mining, applied geology and geophysics schools to maintain and encourage the growth of the energy and minerals workforce. NSSGA supports the goal of this provision and will continue efforts to educate Congress on the need to support mining schools.
DRILLING BILL PASSES COMMITTEE HEADS TO HOUSE FLOOR
President Bush issued an executive order on June 23, the one-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's controversial ruling in the Kelo eminent domain case, instructing federal agencies that they should only take private property for projects that help the "general public, and not merely for the purpose of advancing the economic interest of private parties" as was the case in the Kelo decision. The executive order limits the federal government's takings power to development projects such as public utilities or for "meeting military, law enforcement, public safety, public transportation or public health emergencies."
PRESIDENT ISSUES EXECUTIVE ORDER ON EMINENT DOMAIN
NSSGA has made its Aggregates in Action grassroots web site easier to use than ever before. Just click here or follow the link from NSSGA's web site and you'll be brought right into the midst of our current grassroots political activities. You're just a click away from information on legislative proposals that can impact your business. Our legislative action center provides you with talking points, sample letters, background information on your elected officials as well as a scorecard tracking how your Senators and Representative have voted on issues important to your business. Be sure to visit the new Aggregates in Action site and make your voice heard today!
NSSGA LAUNCHES IMPROVED GRASSROOTS WEB SITE
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