- San Francisco Chronicle: Gas prices continue to surge in L.A. but barely budge in S.F.
- San Jose Mercury News: Roadshow: Why California gas is so expensive
- Sacramento Bee: Study: California drivers using cellphones more often
- Los Angeles Daily News: Gas prices spike 69 cents in one week, but relief may be on the way
POLITICO Morning Transportation for 7/15/2015
By JENNIFER SCHOLTES, with help from Brian Faler, Elana Schor, Kathryn A. Wolfe and Heather Caygle
HIGHWAY PATCH HITS HOUSE FLOOR TODAY: Getting out ahead of the Senate, the House is set to vote this afternoon on its roughly $8 billion transportation funding bill that would run through Dec. 18 and siphon most of that cash from improved tax compliance. House leaders are aiming to provide just a short-term patch to give lawmakers time to craft a multiyear transportation plan funded with revenue from an international tax overhaul. The bill: http://1.usa.gov/1HvxERy. Follow the floor debate on C-SPAN: http://cs.pn/1bJ7Wew.
Wait and see: Senate Republicans are against the House plan, of course favoring the proposal they’ve got in the works. But House leaders may also need to woo Democrats in their own chamber. House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer said Tuesday afternoon that “we’ll have to see” whether his caucus will back the plan proposed by House GOP leaders. “At some point in time, we’re not going to be voting for these short-term extensions.” Our Heather Caygle reports (http://politico.pro/1gATMTR) that Hoyer hinted that Democrats might instead offer an alternative proposal. But he acknowledged that the House plan would be more palatable to Democrats if the legislation returned from the Senate with language reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank.
Extra rider: In addition to the multitude of offsets, the House measure also includes language that would lower taxes on liquefied and compressed natural gas by an estimated $90 million. Pro Energy’s Elana Schor explains: http://politico.pro/1LgGyH5.
SENATORS GET THEIR SNUBS IN: Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch said he’s “not very enthusiastic” about the House’s bill and that his chamber has no plans to simply accept the other’s proposal. Even freshman Republican Sen. Tim Scott said he’s “not that concerned” with the lower chamber’s move. “I love my buddies in the House,” he said on Tuesday. “But ultimately this is going to be a longer, broader, deeper, richer conversation than we’ve had previously on highway funding, because ultimately what we’re all not looking to do, I think, is have some very short-term patch.”
Schumer’s stance: On the opposite side of the aisle, Sen. Chuck Schumer remains predictably open to the measure the House has crafted. But he’s waiting to see what leaders in his own chamber lay out before he passes final judgement, Heather reports: http://politico.pro/1JguNfA.
UPPER CHAMBER TAKES PROCEDURAL STEPS: While the Senate is lagging behind that legislative body opposite the Rotunda, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has set the wheels in motion to follow suit, taking the procedural step Tuesday night to limit debate on a bill to serve as a shell for the Senate’s own highway and transit proposal. The first procedural vote on that measure could come as soon as Thursday, potentially teeing up debate next week.
Offset upset: Still, the Senate’s list of possible offsets remains under wraps. And as leaders struggle to agree on the pool of pay-fors, it appears the GOP may have to scale back the scope of its bill. While Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid says his caucus won’t support proposals to change federal employee benefits to come up with extra cash, several Republicans are also pushing back against offsets that involve retirement changes. Much more on that from Heather and Kathryn: http://politico.pro/1DfHbu4.
The vehicle: Interestingly, the bill Senate leaders plan to use as a mechanism for advancing the transportation proposal is one of the first measures the House passed at the beginning of this Congress — legislation that would tweak the tax code to ensure military members and veterans aren’t counted toward employers’ quotas for complying with the Affordable Care Act. That measure: http://1.usa.gov/1CD518w.
IT’S WEDNESDAY: Good morning and thanks for reading POLITICO’s Morning Transportation, your daily tipsheet on trains, planes, automobiles and ports.
Reach out: jscholtes@politico.com or @jascholtes.
“Bite your lip, and take a trip, though there may be wet road ahead, and you cannot slip.” http://bit.ly/1DfNlu7 (H/t Maggie Chan)
SENATE COMMERCE MARKUP BACK ON: Seeming solid now after some scheduling switches, the Commerce Committee is set to proceed this afternoon with a markup of its portion of the surface transportation bill EPW reported out last month. Check it out at 4:45 p.m.: http://1.usa.gov/1f0epaS.
Partisan divide: Sen. Richard Blumenthal says he feels “very strongly” that the bill “is a huge missed opportunity and a tragic and neglectful waste — in fact an assault on consumer rights in favor of the auto and trucking industry.” And Sen. Ed Markey says the measure puts safety rules in reverse.
A committee spokesman acknowledged on Tuesday that “although committee Republicans and Democrats have been discussing a way forward for weeks on certain issues, some differences remain,” including on “demands for big agency funding increases. The Committee majority has and continues to discuss opportunities for bipartisan changes with the minority which we believe will result in the passage of bipartisan amendments and important safety enhancements.”
NADEAU EXPECTED TO SKATE THROUGH EPW VETTING: The Senate EPW Committee questions Acting FHWA Administrator Greg Nadeau this morning about how he plans to lead the agency if the Senate confirms him to the post permanently. No fireworks are expected during the confirmation hearing, and panel leaders anticipate approving his nomination before the Senate leaves for August recess. Watch the confirmation hearing live at 9:30: http://1.usa.gov/1HkZWjE.
FOXX SNEAKS SHOT AT SENATE PLAN: Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx got his digs in this week on Senate Republicans’ transportation funding strategy. In a letter (http://1.usa.gov/1M9yObO) warning state DOTs on Tuesday that their federal transportation funds may soon run out, the secretary wrote that “many of you have already told us that a 2- or 3-year patch is insufficient to right the trajectory. We need your help explaining to Congress why a short-term bill that perpetuates chronic underinvestment is unacceptable.”
‘ROBBING TOMORROW’S FLYER’: The U.S. Travel Association’s president and CEO is arguing that it’s just not right to be relying on TSA fees for an estimated $3.1 billion toward the House’s transportation bill. The measure that will be brought to a floor vote today would extend for two years a requirement that a portion of TSA security fees be dedicated to deficit reduction. “Even though a long-term fix would be highly preferable, no one disagrees that highways funding needs to be extended in the short term as well,” Roger Dow said. “But robbing tomorrow’s flyer to pay for today’s driver does not a viable funding model make.”
A4A jumps in: Airlines for America is also objecting to the House’s intentions for the TSA fees. “It is disingenuous at best to take funds that airline passengers are paying, presumably for their safety and security, and use them to pay for highways,” Nicholas Calio, A4A president and CEO, said in a written statement on Tuesday.
OOPS WE GOOFED: In Tuesday’s MT, we incorrectly said the House transportation funding patch calls for extending the current TSA fee for two years starting in fiscal 2024. Actually, the fee would stay in place in 2024 regardless of the House plan. What the House plan does is propose keeping the “budgetary treatment” of that fee in place for fiscal 2024 and 2025. So instead of fee revenue going to offset appropriations starting in 2024, House Republicans want to continue counting that money as “mandatory savings” for two years and use it to offset the five-month transportation extension.
OIL MAJORS STEP LIGHTLY ON IRAN DEAL: Morning Energy author Darius Dixon reports that Washington proponents of relaxing the domestic ban on crude exports seized on the Iran nuclear deal as fodder for their push to give U.S. producers more market access. But multinational producers were relatively quiet about how opening up Iran’s economy might affect their bottom lines. With Iran’s oil minister on record for years about wanting to revive the industry’s interest in properties such as the vast South Pars natural gas field, spanning the Iran-Qatar border, expect more talk of what relief from oil sanctions might mean for future relations with Tehran. “Chevron is reviewing the agreement to fully understand its implications for the energy industry and the company,” spokeswoman Erika Conner said on Tuesday. “In the meantime, we remain in strict compliance with existing U.S. and international laws and regulatory frameworks that govern commercial activity with Iran.”
WHITE HOUSE ‘PAIRS’ AMTRAK NOMINEES: We reported yesterday that the White House has sent up two nominees for the Amtrak board of directors. But Derek Tai-Ching Kan has actually just been “paired” with the nomination to reappoint Anthony Coscia to the board. The idea is that a GOP suggestion and a Democratic choice will get through the nomination process more quickly if packaged together.
FOXX TALKS WMATA WITH REGIONAL LEADERS: Following Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx’s closed-door meeting Tuesday with the governors of Virginia and Maryland, as well as D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, DOT is reiterating calls for WMATA to immediately address orders laid out under the FTA’s safety management inspection, to hire a permanent general manager and to move quickly in standing up a new state safety oversight agency.
CAR MAKERS BAND TOGETHER ON CYBER: The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and the Association of Global Automakers have vowed to create a new center this year to share information on cyberthreats. Pro Cybersecurity’s Tal Kopan reports that the groups say the new information-sharing center “will be just one piece of the industry’s efforts to address cybersecurity, including recently propagating principles for data privacy based on FTC and White House publications.” http://politico.pro/1K6F6Wd
DELTA’S BECKER JOINS HEATHER PODESTA + PARTNERS: POLITICO Influence reports (http://politi.co/19CSZuW) that Jonathan Becker, a veteran of Capitol Hill who most recently worked in the D.C. office of Delta Air Lines, is joining Heather Podesta + Partners. Becker previously served as chief of staff to Sen. Amy Klobuchar from 2010 to 2013, as her chief counsel from 2007 to 2009 and practiced law at WilmerHale.
THE AUTOBAHN (SPEED READ):
— House honors the late Rep. Jim Oberstar as Congress fumbles his greatest passion. The Washington Post: http://wapo.st/1dZ2g5r
— GM reps to meet with protesters of Kid Rock sponsorship. The Detroit News: http://bit.ly/1CD3oHM
— NHTSA investigates ARC Automotive for faulty airbag inflators. AP: http://bit.ly/1gAkxYH
— Self-driving cars pose a big revenue problem for local governments. Route Fifty: http://bit.ly/1O7xowC
— Iran nuclear deal creates opening for Boeing. Pro: http://politico.pro/1Oc9bFw
— Shifting tactics, Uber hits city on race issues. Capital New York: http://bit.ly/1HKzhtH
THE COUNTDOWN: Highway and transit policy expires in 17 days. DOT appropriations run out and the FAA reauthorization expires in 79 days. The 2016 presidential election is in 485 days.
Tags: transportation