Legislative Activity

House and Senate Work on THUD Appropriations Bills This Week

The Senate and House are both expected to make progress on their respective FY 2017 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) Appropriations Acts this week, the Senate on the floor and the House in the Appropriations Committee. A potentially problematic issue that could come up in both Chambers is trucking hours-of-service requirements.

The Senate will continue consideration of its $56.5 billion THUD bill on the floor this week in a package combining the THUD bill with the Senate’s FY 2017 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs (MilCon-VA) Appropriations Act. The THUD appropriations bill includes a trucking hours-of-service provision that would limit the number of hours certain truckers could work over a seven-day period to 73; while billed as a compromise provision, it has failed to garner support from either the trucking industry or safety groups. The hours-of-service issue halted consideration of the THUD bill last year, and has the potential to become a problem again this year.

The House Appropriations Committee’s Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Subcommittee will markup its THUD bill on Wednesday, one of several House Appropriations subcommittee markups this week. Subcommittee Ranking Member David Price (D-NC) has said the Subcommittee was making good progress on the bill, and that he was hopeful no “poison pill” policy riders would be added, such as a proposal preventing the Department of Transportation from enforcing trucking hours-of-service requirements. The Subcommittee will likely release its draft THUD bill on Tuesday, in advance of the Wednesday markup.

Infrastructure Week Kicks Off Today

Monday, May 16, marks the start of Infrastructure Week. Its theme, “Infrastructure Matters,” highlights the importance of transportation and infrastructure investment to the economy of every community in the United States and to the health and safety of its citizens. The US Chamber of Commerce will host Monday’s kick-off event, titled “Looking Back and Looking to the Future: Perspectives from Former Transportation Secretaries from the 80’s Through Today,” in which Rodney E. Slater, the 13th US DOT Secretary and a partner at Squire Patton Boggs, will participate.

This Week’s Hearings:

• Tuesday, May 17: The House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment will hold a hearing titled “A Review of Recently Completed United States Army Corps of Engineers Chief’s Reports.”

• Tuesday, May 17: The House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation Security will hold a hearing titled “Flying Blind: What are the security risks of resuming U.S. Commercial Air Service to Cuba.”

• Wednesday, May 18: The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies will hold a markup of the FY 2017 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.