Transportation and Infrastructure

The Senate overwhelmingly voted to end debate on its $109 billion transportation bill Thursday, setting in motion a march toward a final vote on the measure as early as next week.

In an 85-11 vote, the Senate invoked cloture on the measure, which has been dubbed the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century bill.

The vote to proceed on the measure on Thursday was expected, but the margin was larger than sponsor Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) predicted in the minutes before lawmakers began casting their ballots.

"Maybe I'm just dreaming here, but I'm hoping for well over 60 votes to go forward," she said.

By the time the voting was finished, Boxer was lauding the bipartisanship that led to the bill winning 85 votes. 

"This is a tremendous vote — to move forward with one of the most important jobs bills we could move in this session," Boxer said. "[T]his is a good vote. Now the true test comes as we have a lot of work to do to complete this legislation, to make it real, to get that certainty out there to get these jobs going."

Boxer warned lawmakers to not offer unnecessary amendments to the bill, saying it could get bogged down in what she called "extraneous matters." 

"Please do not mess up this bill," she said. 

Boxer said she and Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), the ranking member on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, would oppose amendments unless they both agreed they would add to the transportation bill.

The Senate is expected to end debate on the measure, which has support from members in both parties.

The Senate voted 75-20 to approve a bill providing funding for the Federal Aviation Administration. 

Cantor said Senate Democrats have been non-responsive to House Republican proposals for paying for the payroll tax cut extension.

Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Calif.) on Wednesday introduced legislation that would offer a $1 billion prize to the first U.S.-incorporated auto company that can sell 60,000 gasoline-powered cars that get 100 miles per gallon.

The Excellence in Energy Efficiency Act, H.R. 3872, is the Republican answer to the Democrats’ push for the development of gas-electric or all-electric cars. The flat prize is also a departure from current government incentives to buy green vehicles, which some estimate could cost the government several billion dollars.

A bipartisan group of six senators on Tuesday introduced legislation that would require the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to study the possible health risks posed by X-ray scanning devices that are used to screen passengers, and provide for alternative screening methods for people who don't want to run these risks.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said she introduced her bill in part because TSA Administrator John Pistole said last year he would call for an independent study on the health risks posed by scanners, but then backed away from that commitment. She said she received a letter from Pistole that failed to explain why a study would not be forthcoming.

The bill is expected to offer states millions of dollars in incentives for tough penalties on first-time drunken drivers.

The House on Tuesday afternoon approved legislation that funds the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) through airport taxes through Feb. 17, a move that is meant to extend short-term funding just one last time before a long-term funding deal is reached next month.

The House approved the bill, H.R. 3800, by voice vote after a brief debate in which House Transportation Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) promised that a long-term deal is now in reach.

The House meets at 10 a.m. for speeches, then at noon for work on several bills, including legislation to keep the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) funded past the end of this month.

Republicans and Democrats have reached a multi-year agreement on how to provide long-term funding for the FAA, which includes new labor language requiring that 50 percent of airline employees would need to favor a union before a union election is called. But before they can pass that agreement, Congress will extend airport and airway taxes that help fund the FAA through mid-February.

The STRIP Act would prevent TSA screeners from being called officers unless they have federal law enforcement training.