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The appropriations season is in full swing on Capitol
Hill! Amid bickering between the two parties over how to disclose earmarks,
the new Democratic leadership is set to approve spending bills for FY 2008
that exceed the president’s budget request, setting up a potential veto
showdown later this year. In the meantime, This Week in Washington
aims to keep you informed on how civil engineering priorities fare
throughout the process.
Subcommittee Approves Transportation Funding Bill
The House Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee this week approved an
FY 2008 spending bill that would provide $40.2 billion for highway
construction and $9.7 billion for transit, fully funding both programs
according to SAFETEA-LU guarantees passed in 2005. These figures represent
increases of $600 million and $300 million, respectively, over the
president’s budget request.
In addition, the bill provides $1.4 billion for Amtrak, a $100 million
increase over FY 2007 funding and a $600 million increase over the
president’s budget request. The Airport Improvement Program (AIP) would
receive an increase of $85.5 million over FY 2007.
The legislation now moves to the full House Appropriations Committee for
consideration.
Subcommittee Approves Commerce-Justice-Science Funding Bill
The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and
Related Agencies completed work late on June 12th on funding for the
Department of Commerce, Justice Department, the National Science Foundation
and related agencies.
For the National Science Foundation, the funding total is $6.509 billion, an
increase of $80 million over the President's request, or 1.2%, and $593.4
million, or 10% over the FY 2007 Continuing Resolution. Among specific
spending areas:
• The Research and Related Activities account receives $5,139.7 billion, an
increase of $8 million over the request, or .2%, and 7.9% over the FY '07
Continuing Resolution when adjusted for the EPSCoR move into the account.
The $8 million is specified for EPSCoR.
• The Education and Human Resources account receives $822.6 million, an
increase of $72 million over the request, or 9.6%, and $124.6 million over
the FY '07 Continuing Resolution, or 17.9% -- again with both cases being
adjusted for the move of EPSCoR out of EHR and into R&RA.
• The Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction account is funded
at the requested level of $244.7 million, which is $53.9 million, or 28.2%
above the FY '07 Continuing Resolution.
• The Agency Operations and Award Management account is funded at the
requested level of $285.6 million, which is $38.8 million, or 15.7% above
the FY '07 Continuing Resolution.
Within the Department of Commerce:
• Just over $4 billion for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA)
• $500 million for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
– an increase of $137 million over the President’s request.
The full Appropriations Committee is scheduled to mark-up the legislation on
the June 18th. More details about this funding measure will be available
next week following the full committee mark-up.
Full House Committee Approves DHS Bill
As approved by the House Appropriations Committee, the spending bill for the
Department of Homeland Security (H.R. 2638) appropriates $37.4 billion for
FY 2008, an increase of $2.1 billion of the final FY 2007 spend level. Among
specific appropriations, the bill allocates $7.1 billion for the Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), a 20% increase over FY 2007, including:
• $3.1 billion for FEMA grants, equipment and training programs for states;
• $1.7 billion for the FEMA Disaster Relief & Prevention Programs, including
$145 million for the National Flood Insurance Fund, $99 million for flood
hazard mitigation, $230 million for flood map modernization, $120 million
for Pre-Disaster Hazard Mitigation Grants; and
• $1 billion for the National Protection and Programs Directorate, including
$533 million for Infrastructure Protection and Information Security.
Republicans have used parliamentary maneuvers to delay consideration of the
measure out of protest against the Democratic leadership’s decision to not
list earmarks in committee-reported spending measures, including the DHS
legislation. Democrats have stated that earmarks will be posted shortly.
Full funding amounts can be found at:
http://thomas.loc.gov/home/approp/app08.html
Senate Subcommittee Approves DHS Bill
Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security on June 14th
approved a measure that allocates $37.6 billion for such priorities as
border, aviation and port security activities as well as first-responder
training and emergency communications programs. It also heightens
Congressional oversight on a range of homeland security programs.
The bill provides $1 billion for border fencing and infrastructure
investment, as well as funding for 3,000 additional border patrol agents and
$146 million for 4,000 additional detention beds. It provides $400 million
for port security grants authorized by the 2006 SAFE Port Act; $529.4
million for airport explosive detection devices; and $1.83 billion beyond
the president's budget request for emergency first responder grants and
training efforts. Next in the process the full Committee will consider the
legislation.
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If you are concerned about any of the following
issues or bills, or would like more information on legislative activity of
interest to civil engineers in your state, please contact ASCE's Government
Relations Department at 202-789-7850 or by email at
govwash@asce.org
As always, you can get updates on legislative issues concerning your state
by visiting ASCE's online advocacy site at
http://www.asce.org/advocacy.html. Click ‘LOGIN NOW’ at the top of the
page and then enter your ASCE member number as the Username and your last
name as the Password to login. Then click on the “Write State Legislators”
tab at the top of the page to view legislative issues active in your state.
ALABAMA
Gov. Bob Riley exercised a little-used power in the state constitution and
rejected a million-dollar spending item that lawmakers put in the state
operating budget for the year starting Oct. 1. Riley on Thursday signed that
budget, which lawmakers passed last week, into law. For the first time in
the memory of veteran legislative officials, Riley used a line-item veto to
delete language that would have given $1 million from the Alabama Department
of Economic and Community Affairs to the Tuscaloosa County Commission for
road work. The $1 million remains in ADECA's budget but isn't earmarked for
Tuscaloosa County. The House of Representatives could have voted to override
Riley's line-item veto and reinstate the $1 million for Tuscaloosa County.
However House members refused to stop delaying tactics by many Republicans,
and the House never voted to override Riley. So the budget passed into law
without the language reserving the $1 million for Tuscaloosa County.
Birmingham News 6/8
CALIFORNIA
Regional airport officials yesterday approved a $145 million operations
budget that includes more money to help map out improvements at Lindbergh
Field...It includes additional funds to flesh out plans for major changes at
Lindbergh for the next decade or more, including $243,300 to expand the
agency's planning staff...Among the ideas are adding at least 10 terminal
gates, building a five-level parking garage and relocating the major
car-rental companies from Harbor Drive to the northeast corner of the
airport...The authority board also improved a five-year, $335 million
capital improvement budget that includes $7 million to demolish the old
Teledyne Ryan site southeast of the runway. San Diego Union-Tribune 6/8
Placer County transportation officials, worried that state and federal
funding sources could dry up, announced Tuesday they will ask elected
officials to place a sales tax hike on the November 2008 ballot to fund
projects that would ease traffic congestion...The half-cent boost would hike
Placer's sales tax to 7.75 percent, the same as Sacramento County's, and
generate an estimated $1.25 billion over 30 years...In proposing the new
tax, the Placer County Transportation Planning Agency identified roughly
$3.7 billion in transportation needs in the fast-growing county, including a
$95 million widening of Highway 65 to six lanes, a $585 million road
connecting Highway 65 with highways 70 and 99, $350 million to $400 million
in interchange improvements and diamond lane extensions on Interstate 80
east of Highway 65...The tax hike would require two-thirds voter approval --
a challenge in the conservative, suburban county. Sacramento Bee 6/13
After a decade of planning and an estimated $40 million spent, California's
dream of 2 1/2-hour rail trips between San Francisco and Los Angeles is
stalled at the station this month -- and some say may never come true -- as
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislators tussle over funding.
Schwarzenegger turned the project planning on its ear last month by
proposing a minimalist $5.2 million budget next year for the High Speed Rail
Authority. High-speed rail officials had asked for $103 million to do
detailed engineering work and start buying land for the rail right of way.
Assembly and Senate leaders are negotiating a compromise budget they intend
to present to the governor. The Assembly proposes $50 million; the Senate
suggests $40 million. Schwarzenegger budget officials say the administration
is holding firm and believes the governor's proposal will merely slow the
state's pursuit of bullet trains while broader-priority budget problems get
resolved. Adding to the consternation among rail advocates, Schwarzenegger
also is calling on the Legislature to postpone next year's planned $10
billion high-speed rail bond measure. Rail proponents view that measure --
already postponed from 2006 -- as a pivotal step toward making bullet trains
a reality here. Instead, Schwarzenegger says he wants the High Speed Rail
Authority to first win commitments from private investors for roughly $10
billion of the total expected $40 billion bullet train cost. Sacramento
Bee 6/14
DELAWARE
Keeping the aging Delaware Memorial Bridge in good repair is going to take
two toll hikes in the next three years, officials say. The Delaware River &
Bay Authority has drawn up three proposals for toll increases to pay for
bridge and ferry improvements officials say are required in the next three
years. The various options would bump up passenger car and discount rates by
as much as 50 cents, and commercial rates by as much as $1, starting in
January 2008. The passenger toll is currently $3 and charged one way.
Another toll increase, expected in 2010, would pay for more than $300
million in future projects, such as replacing the deck on the aging Delaware
Memorial Bridge, which, officials say, already has outlived its life
expectancy of 40 or so years. The first of the bridge's twin spans was
opened in 1951 and carries about 17.6 million vehicles a year. The authority
says it needs an additional $11 million a year in revenue for the next three
years to fund about $85 million in capital improvement projects. Tolls at
the bridge generated about $73 million last year. The authority, which is
entirely funded through user fees, brought in about $102 million in revenues
last year. The last time bridge tolls were raised was in 2000, from $2 per
car and $2.50 per commercial vehicle axle. Delaware News-Journal 6/8
LOUISIANA
The House on Tuesday overwhelmingly endorsed a plan to put an extra $448
million a year into state road, bridge and ports projects. The House voted
103-0 for legislation that would dedicate sales taxes on vehicle purchase
and vehicle registration taxes on trucks and trailers to transportation
improvements. House Bill 722 now moves to the Senate, where its top money
committee killed similar legislation earlier in the legislative session.
Gov. Kathleen Blanco has been cool to the idea because it diverts funds now
used elsewhere in the state budget. HB 722 sponsor Rep. Roy Quezaire,
D-Donaldsonville, said the legislation would provide the state with needed
cash for a roads program that has a $14 billion project backlog. The current
funding stream is far from adequate, he said. Under the House-passed bill,
the extra cash would not start flowing into the programs until July 1, 2008,
and only last until July 1, 2010, unless it is renewed. The Advocate 6/13
MAINE
Voters overwhelmingly approved $131 million in state borrowing Tuesday in an
election with no statewide primaries and low voter turnout. With 82 percent
of Maine's 627 precincts reporting at press time, bonds for transportation
and water projects were winning by comfortable margins. The first question
proposed borrowing $113 million for transportation projects. It was winning
with 72 percent of the vote. The second question proposed borrowing about
$18.3 million for water and sewer projects. It was winning with 65 percent
of the vote. The two questions were the only statewide issues on Tuesday's
ballots. Gov. John Baldacci and business officials supported the
transportation bond, saying the money would help repair dilapidated roads
and create jobs. State transportation officials said increased material
costs meant $200 million in projects went undone over the past two years.
Water bond supporters said the money will help towns and cities repair aging
wastewater facilities. About 88 percent of the $113 million bond will be
used for highway and bridge projects. The rest will go toward mass transit
and harbor projects, and about $500,000 will fund bike and pedestrian
trails. Tuesday was the first of three elections to include proposals from
the package. Voters will decide on another $134 million worth of bonds in
November and another $29.7 million for transportation projects next year.
Portland Press-Herald 6/13
MINNESOTA
For the fourth year in a row, the state missed its target for the number of
roads it wants in "good" condition, according to the Minnesota Department of
Transportation's annual survey of highway smoothness. And the percentage of
lower-volume roads in "poor" condition increased to 5.2 percent -- the
highest level on record. By 2010, more than 3 percent of freeways,
interstates and other high-volume roads are projected to be in the poor
category, up from 2.3 percent last year. MnDOT has said for years that it
doesn't have the money it needs to keep up with road demands. Legislators
and the governor agree that more money is needed, but they disagree about
how to deliver the extra funds. Legislators have twice voted to increase the
state's gas tax. Twice Gov. Tim Pawlenty has vetoed it. The constitutional
change that voters approved in the fall of 2006 to channel all vehicle
sales-tax receipts to roads and transit will provide an extra $31 million
for highways in the fiscal year that starts in July. Meanwhile, gas tax
receipts slipped from $650.6 million in 2005 to $646.8 million in 2006 and
this year is expected to again be below the 2005 level. Star-Tribune 6/10
NEVADA
A $1 billion plan to cover part of a $5 billion shortfall in funding for
highway projects that will ease congestion on Nevada highways - especially
in the Las Vegas area - has been signed into law by Gov. Jim Gibbons. The
governor signed AB 595 on Wednesday in Carson City, and followed up with a
ceremonial signing Thursday in Las Vegas. The bill diverts $20 million
annually from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, as well as
$44.3 million from existing rental car taxes and $170 million in property
tax revenue earmarked for capital projects in Washoe and Clark Counties. The
rental car and property taxes will be collected over eight years. The money
will finance $1 billion in bonds for upgrades to Interstate 15 and U.S. 95
in the Las Vegas area and Interstate 80 in the Reno area. The new law
guarantees that money raised in one county stays in that county. The state
is facing a growing shortfall in funding for transportation projects partly
because of high inflation in the cost of construction materials. Lawmakers
have acknowledged the plan is only a partial solution, but will cover costs
for at least a few years. Nevada Appeal 6/7
NEW HAMPSHIRE
The House voted to establish a New Hampshire Rail Authority to study and
oversee restoring commuter rail service from Manchester and Nashua to
Boston. The House voted 189-120 for the NHRA, which would include 25
members, most of them from local government and the Manchester-Boston
Regional Airport. The authority will have the power to buy land, accept
grants and loans, enter contracts for services and with the Massachusetts
Bay Transit Authority and the Pan Am Railways company, successor to the
Boston-Maine Railroad. Those who opposed the authority said the state is
setting itself up for high expenses when trains are ready to run and the
state needs to subsidize operations. Transportation Committee chairman Rep.
James Ryan, D-Franklin, said that in 36 other sates, lawmakers can ride a
train to their capitol. Union Leader 6/8
NEW JERSEY
Legislation:
AB 4345
This bill appropriates moneys to the Department of Environmental Protection
for the purpose of making loans for the construction of environmental
infrastructure projects.
Last Action: 6/11- Referred to the Assembly Appropriations Committee
AB 4346
This bill authorizes the New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust to
expend certain sums to make loans for environmental infrastructure projects.
Last Action: 6/11- Referred to the Assembly Appropriations Committee
OHIO
In response to a flood of calls from people unhappy about all the road
construction in the area, State Representative Clayton Luckie (D-Dayton) has
called a town hall meeting on Monday. "As State Representative it is my job
to ensure my constituents' voices are heard by those making decisions that
affect their everyday lives," said Luckie. "I have become aware of
increasing concerns from residents in the area about the construction
projects. I feel my role is to facilitate discussion between the Ohio
Department of Transportation (ODOT) and the citizens of Dayton. I have
invited the District Director for ODOT and the Dayton City Engineer. My hope
is that residents will be able to share their opinions and gain greater
understanding of the proposed direction of the projects." The meeting will
be Monday at 7 p.m. at the Bomberger Teen Center, 1306 E. Fifth St. Luckie
said ODOT District 7 Director Rex Dickey and Dayton City Engineer Kerry
Lawson will attend the meeting. Dayton Daily News 6/12
PENNSYLVANIA
Legislation:
AB 1493
This bill provides for the establishment, implementation and administration
of the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority
Last Action: 6/7- Referred to House Environment Resources and Energy
Committee
Gov. Rendell yesterday bowed to legislative demands for copies of 52
proposals for leasing the Pennsylvania Turnpike, but he asked the lawmakers
to keep the proposals secret. Rendell has declined for six months to make
public the "expressions of interest" submitted by private companies and the
Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. He has said disclosure of the details
could reduce the amount of money that Pennsylvania might realize in a
bidding process for the turnpike. But yesterday the governor's office sent
copies of the expressions of interest, with names and addresses of the
companies blacked out, to four legislative leaders: Senate Majority Leader
Dominic Pileggi (R., Delaware), Senate Minority Leader Robert J. Mellow (D.,
Lackawanna), House Majority Leader William DeWeese (D., Greene), and House
Minority Leader Sam Smith (R., Jefferson). Rendell wants to lease the
turnpike to raise money for highway and bridge repairs around the state. The
financial adviser to the administration, Morgan Stanley & Co., has said that
if the turnpike were leased for $12 billion to $18 billion and the money
were invested at 7 percent to 9 percent, the state could generate $840
million to $1.6 billion a year for transportation projects. Philadelphia
Inquirer 6/13
RHODE ISLAND
Legislation:
SB 1098
This bill would make substantial changes to the general laws relating to the
administration, development, planning and protection of drinking water and
water supply throughout the state.
Last Action: 6/8- Referred to Senate Environment and Agriculture
Committee
TEXAS
Gov. Rick Perry signed a new transportation law Monday that eases some of
the fears over runaway toll roads and gives local authorities more control
over road projects. The bill was a compromise hammered out in the final days
of the legislative session between the governor, who has championed private
toll roads as a way to quickly build highways without raising taxes, and
lawmakers, who have felt the wrath of rural landowners and skeptical urban
commuters. Legislators revisited a 2003 law that many felt had hidden
consequences, such as allowing private firms to take over large swaths of
the state highway system, stripping property owners of their land and
discouraging public entities from competing for toll projects. The bill
Perry signed Monday has a partial moratorium in place. But the two-year
freeze was dubbed the "Swiss cheese moratorium" because it's riddled with
exemptions, including virtually all North Texas toll roads already in the
works. The bill halts at least one project in San Antonio. And Texas
Transportation Commission members have said the moratorium, despite all its
exemptions, still sends a chilling effect to private investors. The bill
gives local entities such as the North Texas Tollway Authority the first
option to build toll projects, limits private toll contracts to 50 years and
establishes a new process to determine a road's market value. Dallas
Morning News 6/11
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