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
- CONGRESS EXTENDS TEA 21 TENTH TIME
- SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE APPROVES FY '06 TRANSPORTATION-TREASURY BILL
CONGRESS EXTENDS TEA 21 TENTH TIME
Last night, the House and Senate gave unanimous consent to the tenth extension (H.R. 3377) of highway, transit, and highway safety funds since the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA 21) expired in September 2003. This latest extension is six days in length, expiring on Wednesday, July 27. Members hope this extension will give them time to wrap-up negotiations on the surface transportation reauthorization bill. An 11th extension is likely, however, to allow for both the House and Senate to approve the conference report on the bill, enroll it, and get it to the president for signature.
Unofficially, we understand from staff working on the conference that agreement is close on key issues, including the donor state issue, which has held up conference negotiations. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) has been pushing for the return rate of donor states to immediately be increased from the current minimum of 90.5 percent to 92 percent while other top negotiators had been working under a framework that would get donor states up to 92 percent by fiscal year 2009. DeLay said it was not his plan that conferees were working from, but one that would result in a rate of return for donor states of 90.5 percent in fiscal 2005, 90.5 percent in fiscal 2006, 91.5 percent in fiscal 2007, 92 percent in fiscal 2008, and 92 percent in fiscal 2009. Other conferees would only say that negotiations continue, with one House conferee saying that there was a directive from the leadership to be silent on the issue.
It now appears if work on the conference report is completed next week, consideration of the highway bill will be delayed until after the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) is considered, likely on Wednesday, July 27. With the House vote on CAFTA expected to be close, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas (R-Calif.) early in the week suggested that the highway bill would be held until after consideration of the trade agreement as leverage with wavering members.
NSSGA will keep you informed as the highway drama unfolds.
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE APPROVES FY '06 TRANSPORTATION-TREASURY BILL
The Senate Appropriations Committee approved an FY '06 Transportation-Treasury Appropriations bill on Thursday, July 21. The $141 billion FY '06 measure assumes an additional $5.2 billion in highway spending from taxes paid into the Highway Trust Fund, for a total of $40.2 billion in FY '06. The panel also would take back unspent balances from prior years in federal highway and airport programs, to the tune of nearly $3.5 billion, and put the money into FY '06 spending on programs ranging from Amtrak to low-income housing. Of that total, $2.3 billion would be rescinded from highway contract authority balances - nearly $1 billion more than the FY '05 measure, which was used to clear out a backlog of disaster-related highway repairs dating back several years.
The Senate Appropriations Committee has now approved 11 of 12 FY '06 spending bills, with only the Defense measure remaining. The full Senate has approved five bills. The House has passed all the FY '06 appropriations bills. Two FY '06 bills are expected to clear House-Senate conferences next week - the FY '06 Interior and Legislative Branch measures. NSSGA will continue to keep you informed as these bills move through Congress.