Congress Update: 2/22/12

Senate

Progress has slowed in the Senate as the Commerce section of the bill sparks controversy. As the Senate works through the bill, we continue to drum up support for the bipartisan Cardin-Cochran amendment, which would push federal funds to the local level for street improvement projects.

Failed Cloture

Last week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid held a cloture vote on the “Reid Amendment, which would have combined the Senate transportation bill’s four major titles—Environment and Public Works, Banking, Commerce, and Finance—into one. The cloture vote failed to override a filibuster with a vote of 54-42, mainly due to controversy over the Commerce section of the bill.

Reid will still need to combine the four titles into one; without cloture, though, he will need to take more time to win more Republican support. After the recess, Reid will introduce a new compromise Commerce title will be introduced. This new compromise title includes a Complete Streets Amendment and National Transportation Objectives. It removes controversial freight provisions.

A successful cloture vote would have overridden a filibuster, limited the amount of debate on the senate transportation bill to 30 hours, and capped the number of amendments on the bill.

Fighting for Cardin-Cochran

The next hurdle will be to ensure that Cardin-Cochran gets a fair vote on the Senate floor. With Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell working on a deal to limit amendments to the Senate transportation bill, we are reaching out to both leaders to ensure that Cardin Cochran gets on the docket, and we believe we’ll be successful.

Thanks to everyone who has helped build support for Cardin- Cochran. We expect the amendment will need 60 votes in favor (as we are preparing to override a filibuster) and continue to get closer to that magic number. Please continue with the pressure. State DOT Directors will be in Washington next week, and many will be asking for state control (instead of the local control that Cardin-Cochran represents.) The more local governments we can have weigh in the better!

Meeting with Senate offices or talking with your local government this week about supporting Cardin-Cochran? Feel free to use these resources to help your case:

• One-page fact sheet summarizing Cardin-Cochran. Bring this double-sided page to your senators and their staff to introduce and summarize the amendment.
• Support letter from The US Conference of Mayors, the National League of Cities, and the National Association of Counties. You can use this letter to show your senators that the Cardin-Cochran amendment has the support of local officials across the country.
• Local, state, and national sign-on letter. This letter of support for the Cardin-Cochran amendment was signed by local, state, and national organizations.
• Cardin-Cochran Amendment language. Here is the actual text of the amendment.
• Fact sheets on the benefits of dedicated funding for walking and biking in every state. Find your state! Our 50 fact sheets summarize how biking and walking funding has impacted each of the states. Your senators may be impressed to see how federal funding has benefitted to your state.

House

Transportation Vote Delayed

The Transportation part of the House bill has been pushed off until after this week’s February recess. At this time, Speaker of the House Boehner does not seem to have enough votes to pass the bill. As Boehner searches for more support for this bill, rumor has it that he will make the bill more conservative to gain more Republican support rather than making it more moderate to get more Democratic support.

Boehner will probably bring the bill farther to the right by adjusting the bill’s funding. Most likely, House leadership will make HR-7 a shorter bill so that it stays within its pay-fors. Boehner could also cut spending within the bill drastically.

We’ll keep you up to date as we learn more.

Petri Amendment

America Bikes is also supporting Representatives Petri (R-WI), Blumenauer (D-OR), LaTourette (R-OH), Lipinski (D-IL), Tim Johnson (R-IL) and E.B. Johnson (D-TX) as they introduce an amendment that would restore dedicated funding for biking and walking. To learn more about this amendment, read the one pager.

We are running a very targeted campaign to gain votes for this amendment. To learn more, contact Caron Whitaker.

Arctic Drilling OK’d

Last week, the House voted to allow offshore drilling and drilling in the Arctic. This will eventually be combined as the pay-for for the transportation bill. 21 Democrats voted for drilling, and 21 Republicans voted against it. As expected, this has added fuel to the fire of the Kill the Bill campaign.

Fun fact: Representative Don Young (R-Alaska) voted for the amendment… in verse.

Old Mother Hubbard
Went to the cupboard
To fetch a barrel of oil.
Lo and behold none was there,
Lack of action by this Congress beware
ANWR still lays bare.
Time to drill for the people of America.

Itching to make a difference? Contact your elected officials today.