Jim Riley, Director, Government Affairs
John Boling, Director, Government Affairs
Patricia Maeder, Division Coordinator
www.nssga.org
Action Center
e-Digest
- ELECTION EARTHQUAKE SHAKES CAPITOL HILL
- DEMOCRATS SET TO ASSUME CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE LEADERSHIP
- LAME-DUCK SESSION EXPECTED TO EXTEND INTO DEC.; FOCUS ON FY '07 APPROPRIATIONS LIKELY
- INCOMING CHAIRMAN OF TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE SETS AGENDA
- TRANSPORTATION BALLOT MEASURES SWEEP TO VICTORY
ELECTION EARTHQUAKE SHAKES CAPITOL HILL
While an election earthquake shook Congress on Nov. 7 and aftershocks are likely, some of the policy positions of NSSGA will likely be enhanced while others will be made more difficult under the 110th Congress. Both the House and Senate switched control from the Republicans to the Democrats. Democrats stand to gain a net of at least 27 House seats, comfortably more than the net gain of 15 seats required to take control. Democrats knocked off 19 Republican incumbents and took eight open seats formerly held by Republicans. The 110th Congress is expected to open with between 231 and 233 Democrats. This gives the Democrats a majority almost exactly the size of the existing Republican majority going into the 2006 election.
The Senate also was taken over by the Democrats who won the six seats needed to gain control of that chamber. The Virginia race was pivotal in determining control and when former Navy Secretary James Webb was declared the victor over incumbent Republican Senator George Allen, the dye was cast. The final numbers will be 49 Democrats, 49 Republicans, and 2 Independents who will caucus with the Democrats giving them a 51-49 majority.
When the numbers are analyzed, it is clear that the vote on Tuesday showed frustration with the President, his policies on Iraq, and a Republican Congressional majority that was perceived as arrogant, fiscally irresponsible and scandal ridden. It is also evident that it was not enough for the Republicans to appeal to their base, they needed to attract Independents. Of the 26 percent of the electorate that identifies themselves as Independents, 57 percent voted for Democrats and 39 percent voted for Republicans. One pundit commented that in 1994 the Independents turned out and fired the Democrats. In 2006, the Independents turned out and fired the Republicans.
It is important to note while the leadership of the House is decidedly liberal, the bulk of newly elected House Democrats are conservative. As a result, presumed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will have to lead from the center. She already has struck a conciliatory tone when she said Nov. 9; "We've made history, now we must make progress."
In the Senate, the small Democratic majority will make it difficult to succeed without reaching consensus with Republicans. Democrats will run into the same 60-vote cloture wall that Republicans hit when trying to move forward almost any piece of legislation or nomination.
While 87 percent of NSSGA's ROCKPAC-endorsed candidates won on Nov. 7, a freshman House class of 55 or more new members and a Senate freshman class of nine present a challenge. We must educate new members on the aggregates industry and its role in the quality of life Americans enjoy. NSSGA welcomes the challenge and has begun the process of building relationships with new members of Congress. If you know any of the newly-elected members, please let the Government Affairs Division know. This will give us a jump start on educating the newly-elected about the contributions the aggregate industry makes to our quality of life.
Ranking members of congressional committees are preparing to take the gavels from Republicans. The majority assumes the leadership of every committee - determining committee size, scheduling hearings, selecting witnesses and determining which bills are debated in committee and on the House and Senate floors. House Democratic staffs could double in size on most committees while current Republican staff levels could decline by half or more. In the Senate, however, the ratio of majority to minority committee staff tends more to reflect the number of seats controlled by each party.
The Democratic Senate majority will be led by Sen. Harry Reid (Nev.) with Sen. Richard Durbin (Ill.) serving as Assistant Majority Leader and Democratic Whip, Sen. Barbara Boxer (Calif.) as the likely Chief Deputy Democratic Whip and Sen. Debbie Stabenow (Mich) as Democratic Conference Secretary. Sen. Mitch McConnell (Ky.) will become Minority Leader, replacing Republican leader Bill Frist (Tenn.) who is retiring. It is unclear who might replace McConnell as Republican Whip since the favorite to succeed him and the current Republican Conference Chairman Rick Santorum (Pa.) was defeated on Nov. 7. Sen. Trent Lott (Miss.), a former Senate Majority Leader and whip, has indicated he may run for the Whip position and a return to leadership. Sen. Lamar Alexander (Tenn.) announced his candidacy for Republican Whip earlier.
Sen. Boxer also is in line to chair the Committee on Environment and Public Works currently led by Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe (Okla.), while Sen. Edward Kennedy (Mass.) will take the helm of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Other notable changes include Sen. Robert Byrd (W.Va.) heading up the Committee on Appropriations, Sen. Patty Murray (Wash.) chairing the Subcommittee on Transportation Appropriations, Sen. Max Baucus (Mont.) leading the Committee on Finance, and Sen. Patrick Leahy (Vt.) in charge of the Committee on the Judiciary.
On the House side, it is presumed that Rep. Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) will become the first female Speaker of the House when she succeeds Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.). The role of Majority Leader will be filled by the winner of the contest between current Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (Md.) and Rep. John Murtha (Pa.).
House Democratic leaders are studying whether changes are required in the seniority system and rules governing general committee assignments as well as related issues such as ethics and term limits. Democratic lawmakers have indicated that they might abandon party tradition and award committee chairmanships not solely on the basis of seniority, but also by weighing factors like legislative record, diversity and work for the good of the party much the way that Republicans went to a merit system for awarding such posts.
Despite any rule changes of this nature, Rep. Jim Oberstar (Minn.) is all but assured of chairing the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure while the Committee on Resources will likely be led by Rep. Nick Rahall (W.Va.). In line to head the Committee on Appropriations is Rep. David Obey (Wis.). Rep. George Miller (Calif.) is expected to ascent to the chairmanship of the Committee on Education and the Workforce and Rep. John Dingell (Mich.) will likely lead the Committee on Energy and Commerce, returning to the post after a 12-year absence. Rep. Henry Waxman (Calif.) will take over the Committee on Government Reform, Rep. John Conyers (Mich.) will be in charge of the Committee on the Judiciary and Rep. Charlie Rangel (N.Y.) will assume the chairmanship of the Committee on Ways and Means.
Party leadership elections are scheduled for the week of Nov. 13. NSSGA will keep you informed of developments.
DEMOCRATS SET TO ASSUME CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE LEADERSHIP
The lame duck Congressional session, which convenes the week of Nov. 13, now seems likely to run longer than originally anticipated. The Democratic takeover of the House and the Senate sets the stage for a post-election session dominated by action on appropriations, extending expiring tax breaks and confirmation hearings for a new Defense Secretary.
At the same time, Democrats and Republicans in both the House and Senate will be organizing for the 110th Congress. Leadership elections are expected next week in the Senate. House Democrats have set their elections for Nov. 16, with Republicans voting a day later.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) is working with Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and the Appropriations Committee to complete work on as many spending measures as possible during the lame duck. The leaders also are working on a continuing resolution that will fund the government through Dec. 8. The current resolution expires on Nov. 17.
While there has been some talk of a long-term continuing resolution, kicking the spending bills over into next year will require cooperation of the Democrats and it is not clear how they want to proceed. NSSGA prefers passage of the FY '07 Transportation bill and other spending bills as individual pieces of legislation. However, an omnibus funding bill will incorporate the pending FY '07 appropriations bills, either the House-passed bill or the Senate Appropriations Committee-passed bill, and thus would fund the program at the 2007 SAFETEA-LU authorized level.
A top GOP priority in the lame duck is expected to be passage of extensions of expiring tax breaks. A priority of the business community, the package will likely be advanced independently of other legislation by the GOP leadership. The tax breaks, including a research and development tax credit, have bipartisan support. Minority Leader Reid also said that he hopes to help Frist pass legislation to authorize opening the eastern Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas development. NSSGA supports the House version of this bill that would provide revenues from offshore oil and gas exploration to support petroleum and mining schools. Since House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo (R-Calif.) was defeated on Nov. 7, approval of the more expansive House bill seems unlikely.
LAME-DUCK SESSION EXPECTED TO EXTEND INTO DEC.; FOCUS ON FY '07 APPROPRIATIONS LIKELY
The presumptive chairman of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, Rep. James Oberstar (Minn.), currently the ranking Democrat, wasted no time in setting the agenda for the 110th Congress.
The agenda, which largely mirrors the current agenda includes:
The T&I Committee, which is the largest committee in the House of Representatives, has historically worked in a bipartisan fashion. In a press conference on Nov. 8, Congressman Oberstar said he hoped the spirit of bipartisanship that has traditionally characterized the work of the Committee would continue.
NSSGA strongly supports the top three agenda items laid out by Congressman Oberstar and has no official position on the remaining two agenda items. NSSGA has long supported Congressman Oberstar and looks forward to working with him in his new role as chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
INCOMING CHAIRMAN OF TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE SETS AGENDA
Voters in six states approved all seven transportation-related initiatives appearing on state ballots Nov. 7, including four that increase funding for transportation, by substantial margins.
California voters approved two measures: Proposition 1A that requires receipts from the state sales tax on motor vehicles to be spent on transportation improvements and "protect" funding for congestion relief, safety improvements, and local roads and streets; and Proposition 1B to issue bonds of up to $19.9 billion for a series of road-safety, congestion-relief, air-quality and security-related transportation improvements.
A constitutional amendment increasing revenues available for transportation purposes was adopted by voters in Minnesota. The initiative calls for a five-year, phased-in dedication of revenue from a tax on the sale of new and used motor vehicles to public transit assistance (at least 40 percent of the tax) and highway projects (not more than 60 percent).
New Jersey voters passed Public Question 3, a state constitutional amendment to dedicate 10.5 cents per gallon of the existing motor-fuels tax (the entire state tax on gasoline, and most of the 13.5-cents-per-gallon now charged for diesel fuel) to funding the state transportation system. This is an increase from the current 9 cents per gallon.
Rhode Island voters approved Question 5 to issue $88.5 million in bonds for work on roads and bridges, commuter rail, and new buses.
Georgia voters approved Constitutional Amendment 3, to let the state issue special license plates and dedicate revenue streams from the sale of the tags for specified purposes.
Finally in Louisiana, voters passed Amendment 4, a ballot proposal to remove local governments' right to place an ad valorem tax on motor vehicles.
TRANSPORTATION BALLOT MEASURES SWEEP TO VICTORY
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