CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWS
March 23, 2012 – 10:14 p.m.
GOP Buys More Time on Highway Bill
By Nathan Hurst and Richard E. Cohen, CQ Staff
Republican leaders are not giving up efforts to have the House consider a five-year surface transportation reauthorization, even as they prepare to push through a 90-day extension of existing programs as early as Monday.
The challenges facing leaders seeking to write a multi-year reauthorization tied to energy production are no smaller than they have been all year. Leaders still want the House to act to allow a conference with the Senate, which passed a two-year, $109 billion bill (
The House’s five-year, $260 billion highway bill (
It’s also forced Speaker
House GOP leaders say they will continue their efforts to build support for their five-year bill even as Democrats in both chambers call for passage of the House version (
Rep.
The House is scheduled to take up and pass the 90-day extension Monday under expedited procedures that require a two-thirds majority, the ninth short-term extension since the 2005 highway bill (PL 109-59) expired in September 2009. That would send it to the Senate, where Majority Leader
House Majority Whip
“We still have some work to do” because of “confusion” among GOP lawmakers about the alternatives that have circulated, said Rep.
Shuster said late last week that he was making progress in reaching out to Republicans who oppose the longer-term House bill.
Some Republican opponents, Shuster said, were unaware that Republican leaders had abandoned earlier plans to push a limited 18-month reauthorization, while others remained opposed to proposed changes to the structure of transit funding, that have since been abandoned.
Mica had proposed overhauling funding for mass transit which currently gets a funding from 20 percent of Highway Trust Fund revenues. After the idea prompted a revolt by Republicans from districts that rely on public transit, he said he would be willing to drop the proposal.
Committee and House leaders are also working to allay concerns over the original long-term measure’s bus, truck and auto safety provisions as well as concerns over how the cost of the provisions will be offset.
GOP Buys More Time on Highway Bill
“I am cautiously optimistic that [by the start of the two-week break on April 2] we will have agreed to the changes necessary to pass a bill,” Shuster said last week.
House and Senate Democrats dismiss as fanciful GOP predictions that the House can pass a longer-term bill.
“They have been trying to get the votes for their partisan bill for six weeks,” said Rep.
But some Republicans contend that the one-on-one meetings and changes to the bill are starting to show results.
“The longer that we go, the more that members are getting answers to their questions,” said Rep.
Another problem, he said, is that some Republican lawmakers have refused to commit support until they see a final version. “Many members want to see precise language,” Lankford said.
House leaders also face uncertainties in the Senate. Some Democrats and Republicans are reluctant to move a short-term bill after working for months to pass a bipartisan version.
While Reid has said he would rather not take up a short-term measure, other Democrats are not shutting the door on passing a 90-day extension.
Sen.
“We could say we’re not getting anywhere through the normal dialogue, let’s go to conference,” Inhofe said. “That could be tied to an extension.”
Automobile Safety Provisions
Beyond getting a longer-term bill through the House, Republicans are raising fresh concerns that could stand in the way of an eventual deal: auto safety language in the Senate-passed bill that attracted harsh reviews from auto makers at a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing March 22.
The Senate bill’s safety provisions include a proposal to increase potential fines the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) can levy against automakers who do not follow the agency’s guidelines for safety recalls, boosting them from about $17 million to $250 million.
GOP Buys More Time on Highway Bill
Two major industry groups, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and the Association of Global Automakers, have protested the changes that were prompted after a series of recalls created a public and government relations problem for Toyota Motor Corp. beginning in 2009.
Noting that NHTSA is still reviewing and strengthening its oversight after the Toyota recalls, Michael J. Stanton, the top executive of the global group, said, “Congress should refrain from imposing any new mandate on the recall process without benefit of this review.”
Alan K. Ota and Anne L. Kim contributed to this story.