- San Francisco Chronicle: Uber driver an employee, state labor panel rules
- San Jose Mercury News: New transportation sales tax could get two-thirds support in Santa Clara County
- Capital Public Radio: Lower State Gas Tax Forecast Affects Local Transportation Departments
- Sacramento Business Journal: Ways Californians might be taxed under transportation plan
POLITICO Morning Transportation for 6/18/2015
By JENNIFER SCHOLTES, with help from Kathryn A. Wolfe and Elana Schor
ALWAYS TIGHT-LIPPED, HATCH PROBABLY WON’T LET HTF PLANS SLIP: He’s a stellar secret-keeper, that Orrin Hatch. So it’s unlikely the Senate Finance chairman will give any hints this morning about where Republicans are looking to dig up extra cash to pay for transportation infrastructure, even as he hosts a hearing on the future of highway funding: http://1.usa.gov/1e6VyuV.
Staring down the July 31 deadline, GOP leaders have starting scouring for budget savings that would tide over the Highway Trust Fund for at least a year or two. But POLITICO’s Burgess Everett explains that “Republicans are unwilling or unable to share what money they have come up with thus far, beyond vague promises that there is enough money in the federal budget that can be reprogrammed or reprioritized to support the federal infrastructure program without raising taxes.” And Hatch told Burgess on Wednesday that Republican leaders are “looking for areas where money isn’t being used, can be used for better purposes or it’s just there for the taking.” http://politico.pro/1fitbug
Eliminating options: In the lower chamber, House tax writers seem to be expending more energy scratching off funding options than brainstorming possibilities. Sitting through the House Ways and Means Committee’s hearing on highway funding Wednesday, our Kathryn A. Wolfe wrote that “the same cluster of potential solutions — a package of ‘alternative financing’ options such as tolling, a switch to a Vehicle Miles Traveled fee, raising the gas tax, repatriated money, and simply transferring dollars from the general fund” were tossed around. Not as optimistic as his Senate counterparts (or maybe just more realistic), Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan ruled out a gas tax hike and forecast an “unavoidable” transfer from the general fund this summer. More from Kathy: http://politico.pro/1GPtCGz.
Breaking point: Without a sizable infusion in the next few months, the trust fund is expected to fall low enough that DOT will have to start delaying payments to states before the end of the fiscal year. CBO’s Chad Shirley told lawmakers on Wednesday that the trust fund’s highway account balance will fall to about $2 billion and the transit account to about $1 billion by the end of September. http://politico.pro/1LjLrxj
IT’S THURSDAY: Good morning and thanks for reading POLITICO’s Morning Transportation, your daily tipsheet on trains, planes, automobiles and ports.
MT has major respect for the anonymous builder of those “Three Little Pigs” houses that mysteriously appeared along the highway near Dayton, where a truck carrying 2,200 piglets crashed this month. True to the tale, one house was made of straw, one of sticks and one of bricks. Too clever: http://cbsn.ws/1d1gcLD.
Reach out: jscholtes@politico.com or @jascholtes.
“Here’s to turn it up, slowing down and cars that go real fast.” http://bit.ly/1yqwLcM
CONSUMER OUTRAGE QUASHES CARRY-ON CHANGES: Keeping all those roller bags in style, the International Air Transport Association is backing away from its recommendations to cut down on the size of carry-on bags, as the airline industry lines up against the plan that has sparked widespread public ire. Kathy explains that IATA had the opposite intentions when it announced the recommendations this month: “At the time it was put forward as a way to reduce passenger frustrations and ensure bag sizes are standardized, but it played in the media as a way to force people to check more bags — and pay more bag fees. The backlash, particularly among those in the United States, was swift, and IATA’s press release list is essentially the anatomy of a walkback.” http://politico.pro/1JVJNEM
FAA PREDICTS POTENTIALLY YEARLONG PUNT ON DRONE RULES: Approaching the Sept. 30 deadline for implementing its drone rule, the FAA is already predicting it will need many more months beyond that mandated date. The agency’s deputy administrator told House lawmakers this week that the FAA expects to have the rule in place by this time next year and is working on the regulations “in manageable bites.” http://politico.pro/1G5aMaP
Keeping it simple: The FAA is holding strong on its philosophy that starting small is the way to go with the rule, despite requests for the agency to broaden the proposed regulations to let some operators go beyond basic restrictions like prohibitions on flying drones out of sight or at night. “We’ve tried to include in the rule the issues where we think we have a clear understanding of the safety risks and how they can be mitigated,” Deputy Administrator Michael Whitaker said. “The issues that are outside of the rule … we think we’ll get there. And we’re going to try to get there as quickly as we can. But there are still technology issues and standards that have to be developed.” http://politico.pro/1RaYyCz
Privacy protections: Sens. Ron Wyden and Dean Heller have just introduced a bill to protect Americans from warrantless government surveillance via drones. Pro’s Kate Tummarello reports that “the bill — which has the backing of the drone industry groups and privacy advocates — would also prohibit the government from identifying people who incidentally show up in warranted aerial surveillance and soliciting private companies to conduct the surveillance banned under the bill.” http://politico.pro/1TvG9Ex
IG PROBES FAA’S CONTROVERSIAL HIRING PROCESS: Answering the calls of many in Congress, DOT’s inspector general is beginning to dig into the FAA’s changes to the hiring process for air traffic controllers. Kathy explains that “late last year, the FAA instituted a new ‘biographical assessment’ as a first barrier of entry for potential controllers, relegating candidates’ scores on technical aptitude tests and experience gained through colleges intended to prepare people for a job in air traffic control to a secondary role in the selection process. The IG says it will ‘identify FAA’s justification for adopting the new hiring process and the changes that have occurred in the hiring pool since the process was implemented.’” http://politico.pro/1Bkdug6
AREA LAWMAKERS INSIST ON NEW METRO LEADERS: D.C.-area lawmakers are intent on shaking things up at WMATA after reading DOT’s new safety directive for improving the metro, citing findings of “organizational deficiencies and operational concerns” in insisting on new leadership. The directive calls for WMATA to do more employee safety training, to perform more maintenance and to work harder to pinpoint and fix safety risks. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said the FTA’s new findings “strongly indicate that, despite gains made since the Fort Totten accident, WMATA’s safety program is inadequate.” More from Pro’s Nolan D. McCaskill: http://politico.pro/1RbfOaT. The FTA directive: http://1.usa.gov/1JZ9yCx.
NEW YORK LAUNCHES RAIL SAFETY CAMPAIGN: Partnering with Operation Lifesaver, New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority is beginning an ad campaign today that’s aimed at driving down the number of pedestrians and drivers hit by trains. Capital New York’s Kelly Weill reports that the campaign will cost approximately $250,000 and features slogans like “Isn’t your life worth the wait?” and “Don’t shortcut your life.” The ads will run in newspapers, on outdoor signs, online and in short videos aired on TV and in movie theaters. http://politico.pro/1J5cwqH
DOT FINISHES LOADING TAKATA RECALL NUMBERS: NHTSA has finally loaded all relevant vehicle identification numbers into its recall website so drivers can check to see if they are impacted by the recall of roughly 34 million vehicles due to deadly defects in Takata airbags. The VIN search tool: http://1.usa.gov/1q0kWDG.
UBER TRIES TO DOWNPLAY EMPLOYEE RULING: With a lot to lose, Uber has quickly begun to stress that the California Labor Commission’s ruling (http://politico.pro/1CetCdR) Wednesday does not create a precedent for drivers to be treated as company employees instead of independent contractors. And the company intends to appeal the non-binding decision, which argued that — while Uber tries to characterize itself as a neutral technology platform that helps drivers and passengers interact — in reality it is “involved in every aspect of the operation.” More from Pro’s Brian Mahoney: http://politico.pro/1Rb0nj8. The ruling: http://politico.pro/1LgqSVw.
POLITICO’s Danny Vinik notes in The Agenda that the ruling “could have huge implications on the new ‘sharing economy,’” but that many Uber drivers actually disagree with the stance, considering themselves independent contractors rather than employees. http://politico.pro/1HVwSRK
‘Inconsistency and confusion’: Sen. Mark Warner pointed to the California ruling as another example of why Congress needs to take another look at the employment classifications. “As many as one-third of American workers are participating in some aspect of the contingent workforce, and we have a responsibility to provide clarity and predictability instead of allowing inconsistency and confusion as these issues are litigated on a case-by-case and state-by-state basis.”
DOT DIVULGES CRUDE-BY-RAIL APPEAL: Five days after the Association of American Railroads began its official fight against the administration’s new crude-by-rail tank car rule, DOT has finally made the text of the appeal public: http://politico.pro/1G5l0rJ. In the document, the association asks PHMSA to “reinstate a tank car standard that applies to all shipments of all Class III flammables,” increase thermal protection requirements “to meet modern standards,” and remove the ECP braking requirement — or, barring that, reopen the record and revise the rule “to allow a full, fair and genuine debate about the true costs” of the ECP brake mandate. More from Pro: http://politico.pro/1JZdkvO.
MT MAILBAG:
— Sen. Steve Daines wrote this week to Senate Commerce Chairman John Thune asking him to hold an oversight hearing on PHMSA as the agency’s reauthorization date approaches. The letter: http://bit.ly/1FmNQSJ.
— Thirty mayors are sending a letter to House and Senate transportation leaders, calling for an increase in the federal cap on the Passenger Facility Charge that pays for airport improvements. “A small increase in the PFC will enable airports to attract new airline competitors, reduce the financial costs of infrastructure projects, and lower overall rents — all of which lead to lower ticket prices,” the letter reads. http://politico.pro/1HWotgS
THE AUTOBAHN (SPEED READ):
— Tesla partners with battery researcher to lower costs. The Wall Street Journal: http://on.wsj.com/1Lg5XSx
— Baltimore light rail project gets new impetus after Freddie Gray death, riots. Reuters: http://reut.rs/1G5AKLh
— Study finds few vehicles equipped for easy child safety seat installation. The New York Times: http://nyti.ms/1LgDmwu
— Puppies get loose in Pennsylvania Turnpike crash. AP: http://cbsn.ws/1d3bywP
— Singapore Air wants to bring back nonstop flight to United States. Bloomberg Business: http://bloom.bg/1Gh3UWP
— FedEx dismisses impact of delivery apps. The Wall Street Journal: http://on.wsj.com/1L1qzgp
THE COUNTDOWN: Highway and transit policy expires in 44 days. DOT appropriations run out and the FAA reauthorization expires in 105 days. The 2016 presidential election is in 511 days.
Tags: policy, transportation