CAGTC Members,
The federal government briefly shut down last night after Congress failed to pass another continuing resolution (CR) to keep it open. This is the second shutdown of fiscal year 2018 (FY18), the first of which occurred in mid-January and lasted three days. As a reminder, the House passed a CR on Tuesday night to keep the federal government open for another six weeks and sent it to the Senate for their vote. However, on Wednesday, the Senate introduced a two-year budget deal that would significantly increase federal spending caps as an amendment to the House’s CR. Due to Senate rules, the upper chamber required unanimous consent to speed up the debate process on the bill but was unable to secure the votes prior to midnight. Therefore, the Senate adjourned at midnight and reconvened at 12:01am to start a new legislative day. It eventually passed the CR and budget deal by a vote of 71 to 28. The legislation then went back to the House where it passed by a vote of 240 to 186. President Trump announced this morning that he signed the bill into law, reopening the federal government, funding it at current levels through March 23, 2018, and codifying the new budget deal.
As a reminder, the budget deal lifts certain federal spending caps by a combined total of around $300 billion. Congressional leadership promised that $20 billion over two years would be dedicated to infrastructure funding. Please note that the budget deal is not an appropriations bill, Congress will still need to pass a funding bill before March 23 to prevent a third federal government shutdown this fiscal year.
The press is reporting that the effects from the overnight shutdown will be “minimal” and we are still expecting the release of the President’s fiscal year 2019 budget and infrastructure plan on Monday. As a reminder, the White House said President Trump’s plan is expected to generate at least $1.5 trillion of investment over ten years, but early reports indicate just $200 billion of that amount will be direct federal investment.
In advance of the release of the President’s plan, yesterday House Democrats released their own outline for infrastructure, titled “A Better Deal for Rebuilding America.” The plan calls for $1 trillion in federal investments over the next ten years and lists priorities such as stabilizing the Highway Trust Fund and ensuring the money in the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund is used for its intended purpose. Like the other plans we have seen, this would invest in varying types of infrastructure and is not limited to transportation infrastructure alone. If you are interested, you can read the two page plan here. Senate Democrats released a similar, but more specific, plan in 2017, which also called for $1 trillion in federal investment over ten years but defined the spending levels, including: $100 billion for reconstructing roads and bridges; $10 billion to expand TIGER; $50 billion to modernize rail infrastructure; $10 billion to address ports and waterways; and $200 billion for a new Vital Infrastructure Program (VIP) that would invest in “big, transformative projects that could catapult our economy [but] frequently get left on the planning room floor, because of their size, complexity, or cost,” and includes “changing the way we move goods and freight” in its description. You can find the Senate’s plan here.
As a reminder, we will be holding a CAGTC members-only call on Wednesday, February 14 at 3:30pm Eastern, 12:30pm Pacific to discuss the anticipated White House infrastructure plan and to gain CAGTC member perspectives. If you have not done so, please RSVP to me (kcross@blakey-agnew.com) to receive a dial in number for the call.
Thank you,
Katie Cross
Manager, Member Communications & Policy
Coalition for America’s Gateways and Trade Corridors
1625 K Street NW
Suite 1100
Washington, DC 20006
tradecorridors.org