Executive Action Waters of the US On Tuesday, February 28, President Donald Trump signed an executive order (EO) directing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to revise or rescind the Obama Administration’s controversial “waters of the U.S.” (WOTUS) rule which defines the scope of the federal government’s regulatory … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Congress to Vote on Short-Term FAA Reauthorization This Week This week, Congress will vote on a short-term Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) authorization that will reauthorize FAA programs through September 30, 2017. The short-term authorization includes some policy changes, but avoids many significant changes the House and Senate had been pursuing. While the Senate … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Short-Term FAA Reauthorization Likely Soon The current short-term Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) extension expires on July 15, leaving just four weeks for Congress to pass another short-term extension or a long term reauthorization bill. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA) recently admitted that Congress will have to pass another short-term … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity FAA Reauthorization Deadline a Month Away The current short-term Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) extension expires on July 15, leaving just over a month for Congress to pass a short-term extension or a long term reauthorization bill. While the Senate passed its reauthorization, the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2016 (H.R. 636), by an overwhelming … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity FAA Reauthorization Deadline Approaching, Amid Security Concerns The current short-term Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) extension expires on July 15, leaving only 20 legislative days for Congress to pass a long-term reauthorization bill or another short-term extension. This also limits the opportunity that House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA) has to … Continue Reading
Legislative Action Energy Bill Last week, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee released a 50-page section-by-section of the recently passed S. 2012 Energy Modernization Policy Act of 2016. Looking forward to a potential conference of the Senate and House energy bills, Chairman Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee recently … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Appropriations Committee to Markup THUD Bill The House Appropriations Committee will mark up its FY 2017 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) Appropriations Act on Tuesday, May 24, after an uneventful Subcommittee markup last week. This comes on the heels of the Senate passing its THUD Appropriations bill last … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House and Senate Work on THUD Appropriations Bills This Week The Senate and House are both expected to make progress on their respective FY 2017 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) Appropriations Acts this week, the Senate on the floor and the House in the Appropriations Committee. A potentially problematic issue … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate May Consider Combined THUD and MilCon-VA Appropriations Bills This Week This week the Senate is expected to consider the $56.5 billion FY 2017 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) Appropriations Act on the floor, likely by combining the THUD bill with the FY 2017 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Unclear How House Will Proceed on FAA Reauthorization After the Senate overwhelmingly approved its Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization legislation on April 19 by a vote of 95 to 3, it remains unclear how the House will proceed on its own FAA reauthorization legislation, which continues to be stalled due to objections on … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Could Pass FAA Reauthorization Act on Monday On Monday, the Senate is expected to hold a cloture vote on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Act of 2016. The Senate considered the FAA Reauthorization Act most of last week, adopting a variety of bipartisan amendments to the bill that would reauthorize FAA programs … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate to Continue Consideration of FAA Reauthorization Act On Monday, the Senate will resume floor consideration of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Act of 2016. Over 100 amendments to the bill have been filed, but it is unclear how many will be offered on the floor this week. Additionally, Senate Leadership and … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Commerce Committee to Markup FAA Reauthorization The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee will mark up the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act of 2016 (S. 2658) this Wednesday, March 16. The bipartisan bill would reauthorize Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) programs through September 30, 2017. The text of the bill is available here. … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Shelves AIRR Act, Senate to Pursue Own FAA Reauthorization Legislation Members of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee are moving forward with their own bipartisan Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization legislation in the coming weeks, after House Leadership shelved the Aviation Innovation, Reform, and Reauthorization (AIRR) Act amid diverse opposition to … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity AIRR Act Delayed Amid ATC Reform Opposition The House is unlikely to consider the Aviation Innovation, Reform, and Reauthorization (AIRR) Act on the floor this week amid opposition from Democrats, Republican appropriators, and some Republican members of the House Ways and Means Committee. The AIRR Act would reauthorize Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) programs … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity AIRR Act’s ATC Reform Faces Diverse Opposition The Aviation Innovation, Reform, and Reauthorization (AIRR) Act, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster’s (R-PA) Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization bill, faces diverse opposition to its air traffic control (ATC) reform provisions. The AIRR Act would remove ATC from the federal government and transfer … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity FAA Reauthorization Coming Into Focus House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA) is expected to release a draft Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization bill soon, and it could be as early as this week. The current six-month FAA Reauthorization extension expires on March 31. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Chairman … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity President Signed Five-Year Surface Transportation Reauthorization Last Friday, President Obama signed the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) into law, reauthorizing surface transportation programs for the next five years. The $305 billion bill gained widespread bipartisan support, passing the House by a vote of 359-65 and the Senate by a vote of … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House and Senate Conference Continues on Highway and Transit Bill, Conference Report May Come This Week House and Senate conferees hope to finalize an agreement on a multi-year surface transportation bill this week, as the December 4 expiration of current program authorizations quickly approaches. While the leaders of the reauthorization effort had hoped … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House and Senate Conference Underway, Another Short-Term Extension Possible This week, the House and Senate will continue their work on conferencing their respective surface transportation reauthorization bills. While staff have been working to reconcile the bills’ differences, conferees are expected to hold their first official meeting this week. Congressional Democrats and the White … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House To Consider Transportation Bill on Floor Both chambers passed a short-term extension last week, reauthorizing highway, highway safety, and transit programs through November 20. The House now turns to floor consideration of their six-year surface transportation bill on Wednesday. The House appears determined to make productive use of the 22-day extension. On … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Transportation Bill Marked-Up, But Short-Term Extension Needed Facing the October 29 expiration of surface transportation programs, the House will vote this week on a bill to extend these programs for three weeks, through November 20, buying time for the House to finish work on its six-year bill. The extension legislation also includes … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Appropriations Process All But Over, CR Likely The appropriations process is almost certainly over and when Congress returns from the August recess there will be just ten legislative days before federal funding runs out, hardly enough time to negotiate a budget deal or an omnibus spending bill. As anticipated, Congress will likely pass … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Congress Shuffles Closer to a Budget Deal, as Appropriations Process Stops The appropriations process is all but over, after a Confederate flag flap during floor debate of the House Interior-Environment bill brought the process to a standstill. While the appropriations committees in both the House and Senate may mark-up their final appropriations bills … Continue Reading
