House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee (T&I) introduced,
HR 7, The American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act on January 31. It is a
$260 billion five year bill. The leadership has moved quickly in terms of
introducing the bill and compelling action. Today, (Feb. 2) the committee is marking
up the bill with numerous amendments up for consideration.
The bill implements a number of reforms in terms of eliminating
earmarks, consolidating or eliminating programs, increasing flexibility within
programs, streamlining project delivery as well as implementing performance
measures. Some controversial issues that have raised the ire of many include truck
weight issues, some labor provisions and elimination of the Transportation
Enhancement and Safe Routes to Schools programs. While the bill under
consideration in T&I is focused on policy, the bill’s funding level and
intended revenue streams have raised concerns from two rather disparate groups.
Newly elected Republican members elected to slash funding are concerned about
the overall spending level. Democrats have expressed concern about the reliance
on revenues from domestic energy investments. The financing provisions of the
bill will be considered by the House
Ways and Means Committee on Friday Feb. 3.
On the other side of The Hill, the Senate Banking and Finance Committees are also set to
move on their portions of a surface transportation bill. The policy provisions,
length and funding levels are so varied between the House and Senate. Our hope
is that this flurry of activity will not result in a stalemate that only gets
resolved after the Presidential election.
Please check back in the ITE Transportation and Legislative
Community for more information and potential action items. If you are
interested in actual bill text, please contact Aliyah N. Horton at
ahorton@ite.org