Update from Washington, D.C. 03/16/2012
After weeks of gridlock and debate over a series of
controversial, non-germane amendments, the Senate approved on
March 14th legislation (S 1813) that would reauthorize and modify
the nation’s surface transportation law. Approval of the bill,
known as MAP-21, came one week after Senate leaders reached a
deal to limit debate to 30 amendments, 18 of which were relevant
to the transportation arena.
In a major victory for California’s counties, the Senate approved
by voice vote an amendment offered by Senators Roy Blunt (R-MO)
and Bob Casey (D-PA) that would restore dedicated funding for
off-system (local, non federal-aid highway) bridges. Under the
original version of MAP-21, the current “set-aside” for
off-system bridges would have been completely eliminated, meaning
that local bridge maintenance, repair, and rehabilitation
projects critical to the safety of the public would compete
against all other needs. CSAC, in partnership with NACo and other
key stakeholders, worked diligently to ensure that MAP-21
continued to provide dedicated funding for local bridges.
CSAC also played a key role in garnering support for an amendment
offered by Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) that would extend both the
Secure Rural Schools (SRS) and the Payments in Lieu of Taxes
(PILT) programs for one year. With the support of Senators Dianne
Feinstein (D-CA) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA), the amendment was
adopted by a vote of 82 to 16. The extension comes at a critical
time for both programs, as SRS expired last October and PILT is
set to expire at the end of the current fiscal year.
Overall, MAP-21 would fund highway and transit programs at
current levels, plus inflation, for two years. Sponsored by
Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee Chairman Boxer, the
bill would consolidate the number of federal highway programs
from 90 down to less than 30. Additionally, the number of core
highway programs would be reduced from seven to five
programs.
On the other side of Capitol Hill, plans for advancing a
transportation bill remain in flux as Speaker John Boehner (R-OH)
continues to contemplate various legislative options. Although it
appears that the Speaker may attempt to move forward with a
longer-term bill, another likely option is that the House will
consider the Senate’s two-year package. Regardless of the path
ahead, it is increasingly likely that another stopgap measure
will be needed before the current extension expires on March
31.
In other news, and as reported in the lead article of last week’s
CSAC Bulletin, NACo held its annual legislative conference March
3-7 in Washington, D.C. Over 100 California county officials
traveled to the nation’s capitol to attend the convention,
including the CSAC leadership team.
During their visit, CSAC leaders met with key members of Congress
and the Obama administration to discuss the association’s top
federal priorities. Among the issues discussed were
transportation reauthorization, Indian fee-to-trust reform, SRS
renewal, and the Army Corps of Engineers’ levee vegetation
removal policy.