|
|
|
July 27, 2011, 9:00 am
By
Keith Laing
Your morning transportation speed-read:
A commuter rail in Wisconsin was officially declared dead by a transit authority there.
Some of the bus companies that were suspended by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) are fighting back.
American Airlines will pay $3.8 billion for new airplanes in the next five years.
Fighter jets built in Texas played a role in the hold being lifted on a Senate confirmation for deputy secretary of State.
|
|
|
July 26, 2011, 4:48 pm
By
Keith Laing
Democrats on the House Oversight Committee said Wednesday that Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) should hold a vote before he subpoenas documents from the National Labor Relations Board's case against airplane manufacturer Boeing.
Issa has threatened to use his committee's subpoena power to get more documents from the NLRB about its legal complaint against Boeing. In the complaint, the NLRB alleges that Boeing decided to build a plant that would produce 787 airplanes in South Carolina in retaliation for labor strikes by workers at its Puget Sound plant near Seattle.
In a letter to Issa Tuesday, Democrats on the Oversight Committee acknowledged Issa had the power to unilaterally issue subpoenas, but said he shouldn't do so without taking the temperature of his committee members first.
"There is no dispute that you have authority under the House Rules to issue a unilateral subpoena to further legitimate oversight efforts by the Committee,” the Democrats wrote in their letter. “But you also have an obligation to use this power responsibly and not to exercise it to affect the outcome of an ongoing legal proceeding.”
Read more...
|
July 26, 2011, 2:27 pm
By
Keith Laing
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will hold a hearing Wednesday on its bill to block the European Union from requiring airlines operating in its countries to trade emissions.
The bill, which would block the EU from requiring U.S. airlines to participate in its Emission Trading System, was filed last week by committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.), ranking member Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.), Aviation subcommittee Chairman Tom Petri (R-Wis.) and ranking member Jerry Costello (D-Ill.).
The emission trading system it aspires to block is similar to cap-and-trade proposals that have become stalled in the United States.
Read more...
|
July 26, 2011, 1:16 pm
By
Keith Laing
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) is joining those in Washington who want to crack down on charter bus companies after a rash of deadly accidents earlier this year.
Cuomo, who has been mentioned as a possible 2016 presidential contender, said this week his administration was shutting down eight bus companies in his state, the third most populous in the country.
The companies, which Cuomo said have all failed at least three roadside inspections, will be given five days to cease operations under their New York state licenses.
"The frequent, and at times flagrant, violations of state and federal safety regulations by charter bus companies has gone on for too long and put too many lives at risk," Cuomo said in a statement released this week by his office.
Read more...
|
July 26, 2011, 12:57 pm
By
Keith Laing
Democrats on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee filed legislation Tuesday that would fund the Federal Aviation Administration without cutting grants for rural air service, which has produced the holdup that led to FAA workers being furloughed. The ranking Democrat on the panel, Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.), said that his Republican counterparts should accept a "clean" FAA bill now that the agency has issued stop-work orders to about 4,000 employees. Rahall said the measure is backed by every Democrat on the committee.
Read more...
|
July 26, 2011, 11:43 am
By
Keith Laing
Republicans in the House and Democrats in the Senate are continuing to blame each other for the partial shutdown of the Federal Aviation Administration, with each side saying furloughed workers could return to their jobs if the other side would only abandon its current stance.
It has been three days since about 4,000 FAA employees were furloughed after the last appropriations bill for the agency passed by Congress expired Friday at midnight. The House and Senate could not agree by then on a new measure, and still have not days later.
The holdup stems from a provision in the House version of a short-term extension of the FAA funding bill that eliminates some subsidies for rural air service through the Essential Air Service program. A longer-term bill has been bogged down by a House effort to undo rules for unionization of railroad and airline employees that would make it harder for them to vote to collectively bargain.
Tuesday, there was no sign of the end of either impasse. But there was plenty of finger-pointing.
Read more...
|
July 26, 2011, 9:00 am
By
Keith Laing
Your morning transportation speed-read:
A Transportation Security Administration officer was indicted for stealing from passengers' bags after an eBay auction.
Chicago's first bike-only lane is ready to go.
A United Airlines employee was accidentally shot by a passenger at New Orleans's Louis Armstrong International Airport.
Amtrak is resuming service between Kansas City and St. Louis.
|
July 25, 2011, 7:57 pm
By
Keith Laing
Transportation Secretary LaHood implored Congress to fund the Federal Aviation Administration as airport construction projects ground to a halt.
Read more...
|
July 25, 2011, 11:10 am
By
Keith Laing
The Federal Aviation Administration was forced to furlough 4,000 workers Saturday after its last appropriations bill expired.
Read more...
|
July 25, 2011, 11:04 am
By
Keith Laing
With about 4,000 Federal Aviation Administration employees furloughed over the weekend, negotiations continue this week on a funding measure for the agency.
Last week ended with the House and Senate at odds on a short-term measure to continue funding the agency while a long-term deal is worked out. The House voted Wednesday to approve what would have been the 21st consecutive short-term extension since 2007, but it stalled when Republicans included changes to the Essential Air Service (EAS) program that provides grants to airlines for flying to rural airports.
Those changes had not been included in previous short-term bills, and the Senate balked at including them in this one. The chamber left Friday without scheduling any votes.
Read more...
|