Recent Federal Activity Summary – Week of November 6th
As a valued member, Transportation for America is dedicated to providing you the latest information and developments around federal policy. This dedication includes in-depth summaries of what is going on in Congress and the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT). Check out what you may have missed these past two weeks in Congress and at U.S. DOT.
Amtrak opponent Rep. Lynn Westmoreland nominated to Amtrak board of directors
On October 6 President Trump nominated former congressman Lynn Westmoreland to the Amtrak Board of Directors.
During Westmoreland’s tenure in Congress he voted twice to cut Amtrak’s funding, including a vote for a failed bill in 2009 that would have eliminated all federal funding for the passenger railroad.
At a confirmation hearing in the Senate Commerce Committee on October 31, Westmoreland said he does support Amtrak funding, but that “the Board should look at the long-distance routes” and “should shutter these ‘unprofitable’ routes.”
In response to a question from Sen. Cory Booker (D-New Jersey), Westmoreland said he supported funding the Gateway tunnel project between New Jersey and New York.
In a questionnaire for the committee, Westmoreland said the biggest priorities for Amtrak were “encouraging individuals to choose its service over other competing methods of transportation”; maintaining safety and security; and “building out the high-speed rail plans it currently has.”
Westmoreland served in Congress for twelve years, including a six-year stint on the Railroads Subcommittee of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
Tax reform package
On November 2 the House Ways and Means Committee released the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,” the Republican’s tax reform package.
The bill proposes changes to commuter tax benefits for parking, van pooling, and riding transit. The bill eliminates the ability of employers to deduct or “write off” the subsidy they provide for fringe benefits, including commuting benefits. The bill maintains the ability for employers to provide either a pre-tax benefit or a subsidy. In the case of a subsidy, while the employer can no longer write off this expense, they will not have to pay payroll taxes on the fringe benefit. There is no change to the benefits associated with providing the pre-tax benefit.
Sign-on letter to support transit capital funding
Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Jackie Walorski (R-IN) are leading a sign-on letter calling for funding for the transit Capital Investment Grant program in the FY2018 federal funding bill. These champions are collecting signers until the November 9 deadline and then will send the request to senior appropriators and leadership. Please let your Representatives know how important transit funding is to your region and encourage them to sign on to this letter.
T4America opposing USDOT rollback of greenhouse gas rule
T4America has submitted a comment opposing USDOT’s proposal to rescind a federal requirement for states and MPOs to measure their carbon emissions as part of a larger system of accountability for federal transportation spending.
Our comment in opposition focuses on three issues:
- FHWA had legal authority to adopt the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) measure;
- The Proposed Rule fails to account for the overwhelming benefits of the GHG measure and is inconsistent with the approach taken in related executive orders and rulemakings and the public welfare; and
- Establishing a performance measure for GHG emissions is good governance and smart transportation policy.
The 2012 transportation law MAP-21 required transportation agencies to begin using a new system of performance measures to govern how federal dollars are spent and hold them accountable for making progress on important goals, like congestion, traffic fatalities, reliability, road/bridge condition, mode share and carbon emissions. For two years, USDOT worked to establish this new system, soliciting reams of public feedback, and finalizing the measures in January of this year. T4America worked to ensure that new performance measures would account for all people using the transportation system and supported measuring carbon emissions from the transportation system. Climate impacts aside, tracking carbon emissions is one of the best ways to judge how efficiently the transportation network is moving people and goods. If USDOT drops this measure, we will lose an important metric for determining who is using their funding to most efficiently connect people with destinations and move goods to market.
The Trump administration first attempted to revoke the greenhouse gas performance measure without public input but was sued by environmental groups. USDOT has launched a new rulemaking to propose removing the rule. T4America’s comment opposes revoking the requirement that transportation agencies measure carbon emissions.