3 of 10 Procedural Hurdles to Enacting Transportation Bill May Be Cleared in Coming Week

Friday 11:30 a.m. (ET) update: The House Natural Resources Committee just announced it will act on its piece of the American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act on February 1 (the House’s transportation proposal).

Friday 7:15 a.m. (ET) update: Politico Morning Transportation Report writes this morning that up to 5 committees may act, adding the house Ways and Means (funding) and Energy/Commerce committee).  Senator Boxer commented Thursday that she anticipates the Senate Committees to act in the coming week, but at this point there are no official announcements from any the Committees.

The House Transportation Committee bill will NOT be released today (Friday), but should be out this coming Tuesday, with a Committee hearing possible on Thursday.

Recently we wrote about the 10 Procedural Hurdles to Enacting a Federal Transportation Bill.

This coming week (January 30) three of those hurdles may be cleared.  As of Thursday afternoon,  the House Transportation Committee, Senate Banking Committee (transit section) and Senate Finance Committee (funding section) all are scheduled to debate and vote on their pieces of a transportation bill.  However, don’t be surprised if the Finance Committee meeting slips out a week.  The Finance Chair, Senator Baucus, is also tied up in payroll tax extension negotiations (the legislation expires at the end of February).

But all three Committees would essentially have to publicly announce the hearing on Friday. So we’ll know shortly what is – or is not – going to happen next week. Even if the hearings slip out a week, this movement is good news for transportation stakeholders.

Is there enough time to get all of this done before March 31?  Technically, yes.  Realistically, not unless leadership makes it the highest priority – which they have committed to.  But the differences between the two bills will be too great to enact a bill by March 31. They could be so great that leaders decide to simply extend the current legislation, SAFETEA-LU, into the spring of 2013.

Incidentally, overcoming those challenges and enacting a bill could significantly increase the positive image of Congress.  A recent survey indicated “a record 84 percent of Americans disapprove of the job Congress is doing, with almost two-thirds saying they “disapprove strongly.”