Transportation News for July 27, 2015

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  • on July 27, 2015
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POLITICO Morning Transportation for 7/27/2015

By JENNIFER SCHOLTES, with help from Heather Caygle and Kathryn A. Wolfe

SENATE HOPES FOR HAIL MARY WITH HIGHWAY DEADLINE AHEAD: The Highway Trust Fund runs out of juice on Friday, and House lawmakers plan to leave for August recess on Thursday, having passed their own transportation funding plan already. So — obviously — Senate leaders are still working overtime to slog through their proposal, steeped now in presidential politics and reliant on a series of carefully calculated procedural moves.
Since the Senate agreed 67-26 on Sunday to move forward with debate on an amendment to reauthorize the Export-Import bank, the chamber is set to vote this evening on the amendment itself. If leaders can’t get agreement to move that roll call vote to a more reasonable hour, it will happen around 9:30 p.m. and will immediately be followed by a vote to limit debate on the measure’s substitute amendment. Follow along on C-SPAN once the Senate gavels in at 2 p.m.: http://cs.pn/1bJ7Wew.

After today: Senate leaders are expected to spend at least Tuesday and Wednesday (and maybe even Thursday) running through more debate clocks and procedural votes to get to final passage. And while they wait, there will be some behind-the-scenes discussions about whether to include some of the more than 260 amendments that have been put forth. “Time is running short to get a bill through Congress,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Sunday: http://politico.pro/1eskPPs. “But, as with most legislation, we still intend to consider some amendments from both sides of the aisle as we continue our work to pass it.”

EX-IM, THE PERFECT SWEETENER?: Favoring their own plan, of course, House leaders have suggested the Senate’s work could all be for naught. But one of the main issues that has so complicated the Senate bill so far — the impending inclusion of the Ex-Im language — could be the golden ticket Sen. Mitch McConnell needs to get the House and White House onboard with his plan.

Some Pro insight: “McConnell, the Senate majority leader, isn’t shy about his distaste for the government-backed program — on Sunday he called it a ‘New Deal relic’ that’s outlived its usefulness. But renewing the charter for the bank, the country’s chief credit export agency, could be the key to pushing his ambitious transportation bill through Congress. House leaders are divided over whether to re-up the bank … But enough House lawmakers support renewing Ex-Im that they could back an otherwise detestable transportation bill that does just that. And the White House has made clear that whatever transportation bill lands on the president’s desk come end-of-July better have an Ex-Im reauthorization attached.” The whole story: http://politi.co/1I5i4LI.

IT’S MONDAY: 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.

“Think I’d rather ride the rails, ridin’ on the freak train.” http://bit.ly/1es7p6d (H/t Marc Scribner)

THIS WEEK:

Today — Vice President Joe Biden and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo are expected to make a major infrastructure announcement this afternoon in New York. Check out the webcast at 2:30 p.m.: http://on.ny.gov/JFJUb5.

Rejuvenated from a Sunday at the spa, members of the Global Business Travel Association kick off their annual convention down in Orlando this morning: http://bit.ly/1U17TjK.

Tuesday — The House T&I subcommittee that handles maritime issues holds a hearing on a bill (http://1.usa.gov/1LMAO8q) that would impose additional penalties for oil spills to help pay for recovery efforts, as well as a measure that would provide an alternative funding process for refurbishing Coast Guard icebreakers and leasing cutters: http://1.usa.gov/1CByVcM. Airlines for America hosts a discussion on commercial aviation. The Global Business Travel Association continues with its annual convention in Florida: http://bit.ly/1U17TjK.

Wednesday — New TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger testifies before the House Homeland Security Committee about aviation security challenges: http://1.usa.gov/1VFlXkK. The Global Business Travel Association wraps up its convention: http://bit.ly/1U17TjK.

DOT WANTS HEFTY FIAT CHRYSLER FINE TO PUT INDUSTRY ‘ON NOTICE’: Fiat Chrysler has owned up to violating federal laws in handling defects, agreeing to buy back some vehicles and to pay $105 million in fines — the largest penalty NHTSA has ever imposed. In announcing the enforcement action on Sunday, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said “this civil penalty puts manufacturers on notice that the Department will act when they do not take their obligations to repair safety defects seriously.” The auto manufacturer has agreed to buy back more than half a million vehicles with defective suspension parts and to allow owners of more than a million Jeeps prone to deadly fires to trade those cars in for more than market value or to opt instead for cash to remedy the problem. The consent order: http://politico.pro/1GTDEC5

Hacking woes: The news comes just two days after the auto manufacturer announced that it is recalling 1.4 million vehicles that may be vulnerable to remote hacking, which Pro’s Joseph Marks says “could be the watershed moment that makes the auto industry pay attention to the dangers posed by increasingly connected cars.” Much more on that from Pro: http://politico.pro/1MQWi2A.

A FLANKING FROM THE FAR RIGHT: Before Senate leaders can turn their focus to the House’s reaction to their transportation funding plan, they first need to pass the bill. And that undertaking is seeming stickier every day, as conservatives like Sens. Ted Cruz and Mike Lee scheme to use the legislation to force votes on Iran sanctions and repealing the Affordable Care Act. POLITICO’s Burgess Everett and Manu Raju explain that “Cruz will first try to force the chamber to consider an amendment stating that sanctions on Iran can’t be lifted until the country recognizes Israel’s right to exist and frees four American hostages. Lee, then, will try to push through a repeal of Obamacare on a simple majority vote of 51 senators, effectively circumventing the 60-vote requirement to break a filibuster.” http://politi.co/1U17Nc0

Avoiding the morass: Sen. Richard Blumenthal told MT over the weekend that it’s a shame that unrelated issues like repealing the Affordable Care Act are dominating so much of the debate while dozens of amendments sit in the queue, untouched. “I’m really disappointed and angry that these irrelevant amendments are receiving votes when a number of the very pertinent and urgent measures I have proposed may be denied votes,” Blumenthal said. “So I’m hopeful we can avoid this morass and really focus on the measures that are profoundly significant and also relevant to this bill.”

BOXER BUCKS DEM LEADERSHIP: While Sens. Ted Cruz and Mike Lee are making things more difficult for Senate Republicans, the chamber’s Democrats have their own renegade — Sen. Barbara Boxer, who has been a key leader in driving the transportation plan many of her Democratic contemporaries oppose. The POLITICO take: “Democrats and their aides don’t question Boxer’s motives, but they’re irked that she’s signed on to what they privately say is a bad deal with McConnell, one that does more for his endangered incumbents than it does for Democrats trying to take back the Senate. Boxer doesn’t deny the rift; instead, she proudly emphasizes her independence from party leadership.” The lowdown, now free: http://politi.co/1MRxXJQ

THE TPP AUTO ANGLE EXPLAINED: In a beefy trade package, Pro’s Doug Palmer reports (http://politi.co/1LND7ts) that “the Obama administration is closer than ever on a breakthrough on the biggest trade deal in world history. But years of delicate negotiating could be undone” by disputes over rice, milk and cars. In outlining each of the key TPP issues, Doug goes in depth in his explanation of how Japan’s regulatory and tax practices are believed to thwart U.S. auto sales, and how the Obama administration is looking to fix that: http://politico.pro/1OvvkOm. Also check out POLITICO guide to TPP countries for more on Japan’s role: http://politico.pro/1gf6IyU.

APPARENTLY IT’S NOT COOL TO CAPITALIZE ON TRAGEDY: Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx says DOT just began an investigation into whether four major airlines hiked ticket prices in the aftermath of this spring’s deadly Amtrak derailment in Pennsylvania. Our Heather Caygle reports that Delta, Southwest, American and Jet Blue are being investigated. “Those airlines have allegedly raised fees beyond what you would ordinarily expect in the Northeast Corridor at a time when the Amtrak line was shut down,” Foxx told reporters at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast: http://politico.pro/1HTQROY.

Delta’s defense: Delta released a statement on Friday, saying the airline actually took steps to drive down prices following the crash. “Delta lowered its highest Shuttle prices by nearly 50 percent, to about $300 each way, for travel between New York, Boston and Washington, D.C.,” the airline stated. “In addition, Delta honored existing Amtrak tickets for travel between Washington, D.C., Boston and New York; waived change fees for travel on Delta Shuttle flights between those markets; and increased seat capacity in the region by adding flights and operating larger aircraft.”

CBO SCORES SENATE BILL: The Congressional Budget Office weighed in on Friday with its analysis of the transportation funding plan the Senate is taking up this week. According to CBO, the bill would provide $350 billion in contract authority from 2015 through 2021, including $8 billion for the remainder of the fiscal year. And it would make changes in direct spending and revenues that would reduce deficits by $45 billion from 2015 through 2025. The report: http://1.usa.gov/1D1kUWe.

MT MAILBAG: While senators worked Sunday, several safety groups joined to fire off a letter encouraging lawmakers to approve 16 amendments to the highway and transit bill aimed at tightening safety requirements and penalties. “As debate continues,” they wrote, “there is still time to include a strong safety title. Unfortunately, the changes which have been made to the bill thus far are minimal and still do not advance needed safety improvements.” The letter: http://politico.pro/1gfwS4G

THE AUTOBAHN (SPEED READ):

— Aging infrastructure plagues nation’s busiest rail corridor. The New York Times: http://nyti.ms/1D4u0BA

— In the age of Uber, could the “sharing economy” help kill off government regulation? POLITICO: http://politi.co/1CZspg4

— The 100 most beautiful airplanes at Oshkosh fly-in. Bloomberg Business: http://bloom.bg/1LBXSs2

— Facing regulatory roadblocks, Uber ramps up its lobbying in California. LA Times: http://lat.ms/1Ms5VGS

— D.C.-area motorists lose their ‘gunslinger.’ The Washington Post: http://wapo.st/1DIipmt

THE COUNTDOWN: Highway and transit policy expires in 5 days. DOT appropriations run out and the FAA reauthorization expires in 67 days. The 2016 presidential election is in 473 days.

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