In a 363-64 vote, the House of Representatives last week passed  the Surface Transportation Reauthorization & Reform (STRR) Act (H.R. 22), the legislative vehicle being used to carry the House's multi-year surface transportation bill to reauthorize and reform federal highway, transit, and highway safety programs .  Over 100 amendments were offered to the bill ( full list here ), and many were cleared through the Rules Committee and considered by the full House.  The first long-term highway and transit bill in a decade would spend up to $325 billion on transportation projects over six years: $261 billion on highways, $55 billion on transit, and $9 billion on safety. The Senate passed a companion six-year measure earlier this year  (DRIVE Act) , and Congress now faces a November 20 deadline to resolve differences between the House and Senate versions, complete work on a conference report, and prevent a lapse in surface transportation project funding. Priorities for the NEMW region include: public transit, passenger rail (especially Amtrak's Northeast Corridor), passenger and freight rail safety, scenic byways and trails, aging infrastructure, and the TIGER program. 

 

The House stands in recess until November 16, and the Senate chambers will be darkened this Wednesday, November 11, for Veterans' Day, leaving very little room for Congressional activities. Behind the scenes, Senate appropriators will be busy drafting an omnibus spending bill after receiving new spending allocations that reflect the bipartisan budget deal signed into law two weeks ago (H.R.1314 - the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015). Congress is facing a December 11 deadline to pass spending legislation for the current fiscal year. The topic of spending bill "riders" that limit funding for contentious federal programs and initiatives is sure to arise between now and then. Last week, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R), Chairwoman of the Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee (that oversees spending relating to the U.S. EPA and the Interior Department) reiterated the Republican plan to put forward multiple riders, including one restricting spending to implement the Waters of the U.S. rule. A few hearings of note this week are listed below.

   

Thursday, November 12

• Senate Budget Committee hearing to examine spending on unauthorized programs; 10:30 AM, room 608 Dirksen Senate Office Building (No details or hearing link are yet available; however, for background you can refer to this Congressional Budget Office fiscal year 2015 summary of "Unauthorized Appropriations and Expiring Authorizations").

Friday, November 13

• Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs field hearing on the "Impact of Federal Regulations: A Case Study of Recently Issued Rules;" 1:00 PM CT, Dreyfus University Center, 230 Laird Room (1015 Reserve Street, Stevens Point, WI 54481).

For more information, contact    Mark Gorman , Policy Analyst at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.   

Great Lakes Task Force Co-Chair U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow met last week with some 20 other Members of Congress and representatives of the Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, and other agencies trying to keep invasive carp from reaching Lake Michigan. Members of Congress pressed for the status of plans to add new fish-blocking technology to stop invasive carp at Joliet, Illinois' Brandon Road Lock and Dam. In response, federal officials said it could be another four years before recommendations to stop carp at the key chokepoint are ready. More details on the meeting and the status of the recommendations are available here .

For more information, contact   Colleen Cain, Senior  Policy Analyst at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.   

Canadian Consul General Roy Norton made a visit to the Great Ships Initiative's Land-Based Research, Development, Testing and Evaluation facility on October 30 to learn more about the work being done on ballast water testing. His visit to the facility is part of a week-long tour of the State of Wisconsin, making several stops to local facilities in the Duluth/Superior Twin Ports. Dr. Matt TenEyck, GSI Assistant Scientist, led the tour of the facility and described how it operates during the process of testing ballast water management systems. He presented an overview of the initiative's regional effort to end the problem of ship-mediated invasive species in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System and globally. 

 

For more information contact Allegra Cangelosi, Director, Great Ships Initiative at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.