07/01/20 CAGTC: House Passes Surface Transportation Reauthorization Bill

Dear CAGTC Members,

On July 1, the House passed the Moving Forward Act by a vote of 233-188, mostly along party lines. As a reminder, the largest component of this package is the House T&I Committee’s surface transportation reauthorization proposal, but it also contains various other non-transportation programs. The full list of amendments considered by the House June 30 and July 1 can be found here. All amendments were adopted with the exception of the en bloc package offered by Republican sponsors (part G in the PDF), amendment #178, and #21 (part H). The motion to recommit, which passed and was incorporated into the bill before its final passage can be found here.

What’s next? Many steps remain before a conference between a House and Senate bill is possible. First, the House’s Moving Forward Act (H.R 2) still does not have a funding package attached to it. The transportation portion of the Moving Forward Act requires a $145 billion transfer from the General Fund of the Treasury to bridge the gap between spending and Highway Trust Fund receipts. In the Senate, the Committee on Environment and Public Works last summer approved its proposal which can be viewed here, but the other relevant Senate Committees of jurisdiction (such as: the Committee on Science, Commerce and Transportation; the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; and the Committee on Finance) have not yet introduced proposals that would typically be included in a surface transportation authorization.

As for the White House, the Office of Management and Budget has issued a veto threat for H.R. 2 arguing, “It is heavily biased against rural America. It also appears to be entirely debt-financed. And it fails to tackle the issue of unnecessary permitting delays, which are one of the most significant impediments to improving our infrastructure. Further, instead of taking a balanced approach that would benefit more Americans, H.R. 2 is full of wasteful “Green New Deal” initiatives that would impede economic growth and impose unnecessary mandates, hindering innovation and driving up costs for the American people.”

We will keep you updated as the process advances.

Thank you,

Cecile

Cecile Entleitner
Manager, Member Communications & Policy
Coalition for America’s Gateways and Trade Corridors
1625 K Street NW
Suite 1100
Washington, DC 20006
tradecorridors.org
T: (202) 828-9100
C: (850) 766-2411