The state lawmaker pushing Texas to ban Transportation Security Administration pat-downs is calling on a man mentioned as possible presidential contender to help pass the bill: Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R).

State Rep. David Simpson said in a letter to the governor, whose moves are now being watched by national observers, that Perry could help convince lawmakers to pass the bill before a special session of the Texas Legislature ends. Perry, who is flirting with a bid for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, is seen as potential top-tier candidate in a field whose only southerners are former Speaker Newt Gingrich and former pizza magnate Herman Cain.

"You write in your book, Fed Up, that you want to 'help foster a nationwide conversation about the role of government in our lives,'" Simpson wrote to Perry. "I can think of no role less suitable for our federal government than that of routinely violating innocent citizens of this state and those of the entire country.

Tennessee Republican Senators Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander last week introduced legislation that would waive the requirement that all states install more reflective road signs by 2018.

Their bill, S. 1216, would ease what they say is a burden on all states to meet the road-sign mandate from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). That agency has required all state and local governments to present a plan to the federal government by next January on how they will put up more reflective road signs, which the FHWA says leads to safer driving.

The Democratic senator is calling for increased bus safety after deadly crashes in his home state.

Opponents of the NLRB's complaint against Boeing have criticized Obama's nomination of John Bryson to be Commerce secretary

Your daily transportation speed-read:

A computer failure left many United Airlines passengers stranded over the Father's Day weekend.

The Washington Post thinks the National Labor Relations Board's Boeing complaint is bad for business.

The type of geese that forced Capt. 'Sully' to land his crippled plane on the Hudson will be fed to the homeless in Pennsylvania.

Another Transportation Security Administration agent has been arrested for theft.

The House Oversight Committee chairman said Monday that airplane manufacturer Boeing is at a disadvantage in the National Labor Relations Board's (NLRB) investigation into its plant in South Carolina because it is up against the government.

"If the labor union wants to make a suit, make a suit, but for the government to use your tax dollars to pursue, I think that's a mistake," Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said on MSBNC's "Morning Joe" Monday.
 
Issa's House Oversight and Government Reform Committee held a hearing in South Carolina last week looking into whether the NLRB's allegation that Boeing decided to build a plant in South Carolina in retaliation for labor strikes by workers at its Puget Sound plant near Seattle was politically motivated.

The National Labor Relations Board's attorney told lawmakers that the suit against Boeing protects workers in every state.

The Federal Aviation Administration said Friday that it would fine Chicago-based United Airlines for violating Department of Transportation drug policies.

The FAA said the airline failed to test some employees for drugs before hiring them, as they are required to do. The agency said the airline also transferred 13 individuals who failed drug tests to other departments, and said it did not prove its employees had an equal probability of being selected for random drug tests.

“Drug testing is both a critical and a required safety measure that all operators must follow,” FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt said in a statement.

The penalty for the infractions is $584,375. United has 30 days to respond to the FAA allegations.

Rep. Darrell Issa is holding a hearing into the National Labor Relations Board's complaint against airplane manufacturer Boeing.