Not all the news out of Washington DC last week
came from the Supreme Court: History was also made Friday when Congress
passed the Transportation Bill presenting the first long-term funding
authorization since 2005. Our staff was in
DC on Thursday to stay close to the deal and thank
legislators for their action on our coalition’s #1 priority. Nine members
of our
Great Lakes Metro Chambers Coalition spent the day meeting with offices of Great Lakes transportation bill conferees
and their staffs, many of whom had been intimately involved in crafting the
final bill.
The bill passed the House by a vote of 373-52 and
was then passed minutes later by the Senate with a vote of 79-14.
Republicans from both chambers cast “nay” votes. See how your members
voted:
House |
Senate.
Our coalition worked hard advocating for passage
of a long-term comprehensive transportation bill along with specific coalition
priorities. Members were engaged in getting support for amendments,
increasing the number of sponsors or signers for key provisions and letters of
support and educating members on our priorities. We were part of a larger
effort and our efforts paid off!
This reauthorization, while not a 5 or 6 year
deal (as we'd hoped), does run for 27 months which is much better than another short-term
extension because it will provide states with more certainty in planning road
and transit construction projects.
In addition, we
made significant progress on two of our coalition’s priorities:
The Harbor
Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF) fix language, while lacking an enforcement
mechanism, is included in the final bill and is the strongest ever endorsement
from Congress for spending all of the HMTF revenues on their intended
purpose. Our coalition will be closely monitoring the funding levels this
year so that the actual appropriations, which come later, comport with the new
language.
The
Projects of National and Regional
Significance (PNRS) program was included in the final bill. (The House
bill would have eliminated the program.) We look forward to fully
analyzing the language in the final bill to see how we can position the Great
Lakes Region to benefit from the PNRS program.
Reports also indicate
that the new bill will reduce the average time it takes to complete a highway
project by streamlining administrative processes and consolidating a variety of
programs, consistent with our coalition's goals for more efficiency and
flexibility. We applaud these efforts and look forward to learning
more from the language in the final bill.
Much of the deal was
determined in the final hours of negotiations: Republicans dropped their
demands to piggyback onto the bill approval for the Keystone oil pipeline and
relaxation of proposed restrictions on coal ash produced by power plants.
In return, Democrats gave up on $1.4 billion for conservation and agreed to
allow states more leeway in the way they use money that once was mandated for
landscaping, bike improvements and pedestrian walkways.
This critical issue is a journey, not a destination, and
our Great Lakes Metro Chambers Coalition will now look to implementation and to the longer term policy and
funding issues surrounding surface transportation.
