Boehner Announcement On Highway Bill Scheduled For Thursday

[AAPD]

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) has scheduled a news conference for
Thursday, November 17, at 11 a.m. with Transportation and
Infrastructure Committee chairman John Mica (R-FL), Natural Resources
Committee chairman Doc Hastings (R-WA), and Rep. Steve Stivers (R-OH)
(who has been working with Boehner to help find transportation funding
offsets) to announce plans for the House's consideration of a surface
transportation reauthorization bill (coupled with several energy
exploration bills) later this year.



At a minimum, Boehner and his colleagues are expected to announce a
firm commitment to action on the legislation and a timetable for House
action on the legislation, both in committee and on the House floor,
in December.



Beyond that, the real news value of the press conference will be
determined by how many key numbers are announced.



**Will the Speaker announce how many fiscal years the surface
transportation reauthorization bill will cover? If so, will it be six
years (as originally proposed by Mica), or two years (as proposed by
the Senate), or some in-between figure like four years, or five years
(which Mica discussed with GOP leaders this week)?



**How much funding will be provided from the Highway Trust Fund each
year of the bill? The FY 2012 level of total new obligations from the
Trust Fund under the "minibus" appropriations bill to be voted on in
the House and Senate this week is $49.458 billion, which is down from
$51.473 billion in FY 2011. The Senate authorization bill would
increase funding in 2012 and 2013 above those 2011 numbers. How far
below the Senate bill will the House go on an annualized basis?



**How much money do House leaders realistically expect to get from
energy exploration rights (and any other non-transportation-related
offsets they might have identified) in order to offset some of the
transportation spending? None of the Congressional Budget Office
estimates of the various energy exploration rights bills, even
combined, come close to totaling the $60-80 billion over six years
needed to fund a surface transportation bill even at the lower minibus
funding levels. Are other funding offsets under consideration which
are even less connected to transportation than energy exploration?



If the Speaker's press conference gives out some firm numbers in
answer to a few of these key questions, then we will know a lot more
by tomorrow afternoon about the House's reauthorization plan than we
know right now. If the Speaker's press conference gives out few or no
numbers, as is also possible, then it really will only serve as a
reaffirmation of Boehner's promise of November 3 to move a
"multiyear" bill through the House by the end of the year.

[None None]

can you please direct all future enails to patchsatch @hotmail.com, acct compromised


 
 
 
Thank You,
Tim
 

> Date: Thu, 17 Nov 2011 09:43:27 -0800
> Subject: Disability and Transportation Equity Boehner Announcement On Highway Bill Scheduled For Thursday
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