Infrastructure in the News: May 11, 2015
INFRASTRUCTURE WEEK
Transport Topics: Capitol Agenda for the Week of May 11, 2015: Daily Coverage of Infrastructure Week
http://www.ttnews.com/articles/basetemplate.aspx?storyid=38225
Capitol Agenda shifts into daily blog mode to cover Infrastructure Week. We'll be bringing you photos, tweets, videos and news coverage of the week's major events related to trucking. We also will be offering two special LiveOnWeb programs dedicated to Infrastructure Week:
Progressive Railroading: 'Infrastructure Week' to highlight need for long-term investments
Representatives of 80 affiliates from business, labor and advocacy are expected to gather next week to call attention to U.S. infrastructure needs as part of the third annual "Infrastructure Week."
BAF IN THE NEWS
The Fiscal Times: Congress Likely to Kick the Can Down America’s Potholed Road
LaHood, a former Republican representative from Illinois who served in the Obama Cabinet, is co-chair of Building America’s Future, a bipartisan coalition of elected officials seeking increased investment in the nation’s sagging infrastructure. In its most recent report card, the American Society of Civil Engineers put the U.S. infrastructure spending gap at $125 billion a year just to maintain and repair highways and bridges. It gave the nation’s infrastructure a D+ and pointed to a tremendous backlog and desperate need for modernization.
Aviation Pros: DOT Secretary Foxx, Ed Rendell Added as Speakers for AAAE Annual Conference
U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, former mayor of Charlotte, NC, will give a keynote address to attendees on Tuesday, June 9. Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, who also served as the mayor of Philadelphia, will speak at the Executive Business Breakfast on Wednesday, June 10. The two former mayors both have extensive experience in local government and strongly support infrastructure funding. Foxx and Rendell join political powerhouse couple James Carville and Mary Matalin, who will be giving a keynote speech on Monday, June 8.
Trib Live: Bridges before BRT
http://triblive.com/opinion/letters/8308966-74/bus-project-oakland
Former Gov. Ed Rendell estimated that were 1,145 bridges in Pennsylvania in need of repair. Our tax dollars need to go to bridge repair, which benefits every single person, before you can even begin a discussion about commuting between Oakland and Downtown a little quicker.
Before you speak of spurring development in Oakland, worry about bus service that has been cut off or severely limited to so many people in so many areas.
The Port Authority won't even release or doesn't keep numbers on ridership on the North Shore Connector, a project that was “a tragic mistake,” said Rendell. Let's not make another mistake with BRT.
NATIONAL NEWS
The Hill: Transportation chief: ‘We ought to be embarrassed as a country’
http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/241473-dot-chief-we-ought-to-be-embarrassed-as-a-country
Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx on Friday said, “we ought to be embarrassed as a country” about the state of the nation’s infrastructure, as lawmakers scramble to beat a May 31 deadline for extending federal transportation funds.
TIME Money: It’s Bike to Work Week! Commuter Freebies and 4 Tips for First-Timers
http://time.com/money/3852303/bike-to-work-week-freebies-tips/
Riding a bike to work is a great way to save money and get exercise at the same time. And if ever there was a time you'd consider commuting by bicycle, it's Bike to Work Week, May 11 to 15.
STATE NEWS
AP: San Francisco Commuters Snub Public Transit for $6 Bus Ride
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/05/11/us/ap-us-san-francisco-pricey-buses.html
SAN FRANCISCO — The compact city that inspired ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft is offering a new way to get to work: fancy $6 big-bus rides with spacious seating, free Wi-Fi and attendants who deliver snacks.
LA Times: Doing the math on California's bullet train fares
http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-adv-bullet-fares-20150510-story.html#page=1
Riding California's bullet train from Los Angeles to San Francisco would cost "about $50 a person," supporters wrote in ballot arguments seven years ago when voters approved billions in funding for the project.
Santa Barbara Independent: The Future of Biking in Santa Barbara
http://www.independent.com/news/2015/may/11/future-biking-santa-barbara/
This could be a banner year for biking in Santa Barbara. The city is writing its Bicycle Master Plan, setting the pace for the next decade of cycling infrastructure development. The budget for completing the plan is $220,000 and the city hopes to have it finished by late fall.
Crain’s Detroit Business: RTA to unveil regional mass transit planning effort on Tuesday
Metro Detroit’s regional transit authority on Tuesday will unveil the initial process of developing a regional master plan to create a public mass transit system for Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Washtenaw counties.
Washington Post: Metro’s financial woes could mean trouble for the agency in June
Metro officials and the District’s chief financial officer painted a grim financial picture for members of the D.C. Council on Friday, warning that in a worst-case-scenario, local governments could have to bail out the beleaguered transit agency to keep trains running.
Washington Post: Federal officials: More transportation funds would help Northern Virginia
Top elected leaders in Northern Virginia on Friday made their strongest case yet for investing in the region’s transportation and infrastructure, saying it will spur development, create jobs and ease traffic congestion.
Washington Post: Purple Line decision is viewed as ‘inherently political’
As Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan weighs whether to build the Purple Line or scrap the multibillion-dollar project, he will need to consider how a new light-rail line benefiting the D.C. suburbs would play in rural areas where he promised voters key to his election more money for roads and bridges, political observers say.
AP: 4-state Southeast high-speed rail compact being discussed
RALEIGH, N.C. — The nation’s top transportation official says he’s more optimistic that high-speed rail will eventually become a reality in the Southeast after Georgia and South Carolina expressed interest in a joint agreement between North Carolina and Virginia to study, coordinate and advocate for the project.
AP: High-speed line connecting N.C., S.C., Va. and Georgia could happen
RALEIGH — The nation's top transportation official says he's more optimistic that high-speed rail will eventually become a reality in the Southeast after Georgia and South Carolina expressed interest in a joint agreement between North Carolina and Virginia to study, coordinate and advocate for the project.
POLITICO MORNING TRANSPORTATION
By Jennifer Scholtes | 5/11/15 5:42 AM EST
TIMELINE COMPROMISE EMERGES AS POLICY EXPIRATION LOOMS: Two workweeks away from expiration of transportation policy, lawmakers are beginning to give a little in negotiations over the length of the next patch they’ll undoubtedly be delivering instead of a long-term revamp. Our Heather Caygle delivered the scoop on Friday that Senate Environment and Public Works Chairman Jim Inhofe is now prepared to support a Highway Trust Fund patch into December, rather than insisting on a two-month policy extension that would force lawmakers to reconsider both funding and authority again when the trust fund is expected to reach its low at the end of July. More from Pro: http://politico.pro/1K0K1tW.
Concern lingers: Inhofe’s concession does not come without worry, though, that an extension until year’s end will increase the chances Congress will punt with yet another patch when this next one’s up. “I think, in general, that an extension prolongs the pain,” Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said Friday. “It just creates uncertainty, and one worries that at the end of the year, in the rush that usually follows coming towards the end of the year, that this issue will get buried for a few months and raise its head again at the end of the year and perhaps lead to future extensions.”
Money hungry: The Ways and Means Committee’s top Democrat, Sen. Sander Levin, noted Sunday that timeframe agreements only go so far without consensus on pay-fors. “There have to be more revenues — that is what transportation is really all about …” the senator said on C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers” program. “We need to get that straightened out.”
Industry watches: Onlookers in the infrastructure industry understand that another temporary extension is inevitable at this point, but they are keeping the pressure on nonetheless, warning lawmakers not to fail them again. “Twenty days. That is all that separates us from a highway shutdown unless Congress extends federal highway and other transit programs funding,” Jay Timmons, president and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers, will remind those in the infrastructure industry during a speech this morning. “Yes, Congress will likely come up with temporary patchwork again. But we must insist on more.”
Foxx sides with Senate GOP: Speaking at odds with Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid’s legislative demands, Foxx has said he thinks the Senate should “clear the decks on trade, get it done, and focus on the transportation bill.” Democrats have pointed to the impending transportation policy expiration as a reason the Senate should hold off on the trade legislation congressional liberals largely oppose and that the Obama administration is trying so hard to push forward in partnership with GOP leaders. On Foxx’s remarks: http://politico.pro/1JUphnP.
SHUSTER’S DONOR CONNECTIONS RAISE QUESTIONS: POLITICO’s Anna Palmer, Jake Sherman and John Bresnahan have been following the money again, this time tracking campaign contributions that raise more questions about whether House T&I Chairman Bill Shuster is letting industry cash influence his policy work. The three explain that the chairman took in more than $33,000 from Virgin Islands donors last year, right after championing a provision that doubled the number of passengers allowed on uninspected commercial charter boats — a rule the territory has been lobbying to change for two decades. “Policymakers frequently raise money from individuals and corporations who have vested interests before Congress. But Shuster’s initiative in taking up such a parochial issue — the relaxing of the rule affected only the U.S. Virgin Islands’ situation — and the specificity with which donors connected their contributions to his work make this case unusual.” Read all about it: http://politico.pro/1zV4HRa.
THIS WEEK: It’s Infrastructure Week, and there will be no rest for Secretary Foxx, who begins with a twofer of speaking engagements in town today, heads to Tennessee on Tuesday to headline events in Knoxville and Memphis, jets out to the Bay Area for speeches in Silicon Valley on Wednesday, bops down to L.A. to talk at a bus maintenance and operations facility on Thursday, and wraps up in Iowa on Friday, before returning home to D.C. As the crow flies, that’s a more than 5,000-mile circuit around the country. You go, secretary!
Today — Foxx, Vice President Joe Biden and AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka talk this morning about infrastructure investment at a forum hosted by Bloomberg Government. Catch the webcast at 9:15: http://bit.ly/1cmQRvx. The secretary then heads to Brookings this afternoon to speak about infrastructure financing alongside former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell. After that panel, Rep. John Delaney and Alan Krueger take the stage: http://bit.ly/1z1TNIH.
MONDAY, MONDAY: Good morning and thanks for reading POLITICO’s Morning Transportation, your daily tipsheet on trains, planes, automobiles and ports.
Reach out: jscholtes@politico.com or @jascholtes.
“Hammer down, cruise around, rock this town in my Trans Am” http://bit.ly/1cscFqj
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THE REST OF THE WEEK:
Tuesday — Out in Cleveland, airplane manufacturers and folks that run the nation’s regional airlines meet for a three-day conference to celebrate the Regional Airline Association’s 40th anniversary: http://bit.ly/1Qzkc5e. Former DOT Deputy Secretary John Porcari, leaders from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and ex-EPA officials join this morning for a forum on changing the approval process for infrastructure projects: http://bit.ly/1zRk9NV. The McGraw Hill Financial Global Institute and the Bipartisan Policy Center host a series of discussions this afternoon about creating a lineup of state and local infrastructure projects that are ready for investment: http://bit.ly/1KVD6zZ.
Wednesday — House Appropriations marks up its bill for providing fiscal 2016 transportation funding: http://1.usa.gov/1cH0iqs. House Oversight holds a hearing (http://1.usa.gov/1zULora) on airport safety, while House T&I questions STB’s chairwoman about railroad deregulation: http://1.usa.gov/1dVZPRI.
The Regional Airline Association’s convention continues in Cleveland, with a lunchtime speech by FAA Deputy Administrator Michael Whitaker: http://bit.ly/1Qzkc5e. Qatar Airways' CEO Akbar Al Baker holds a morning press conference at the Four Seasons in Georgetown. The Environmental and Energy Study Institute and the American Public Transportation Association host a Capitol Hill briefing on how transit investment affects national competitiveness: http://bit.ly/1wzHWdw.
Thursday — The House T&I subcommittee that handles Coast Guard issues holds a hearing on the service’s acquisitions process, with testimony from the Coast Guard’s assistant commandant for acquisitions and the a GAO director: http://1.usa.gov/1K0mV6W. Former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott returns to Capitol Hill to speak on a panel about the correlation between infrastructure development and economic competitiveness: http://bit.ly/1HbEuQu.
The Regional Airline Association closes out its convention in Ohio: http://bit.ly/1Qzkc5e. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration holds a meeting out in Arlington on minimum training requirements for entry-level drivers of commercial motor vehicles. And several think tanks join in hosting a Senate briefing on transportation funding options: http://bit.ly/1AQ9uOt.
Friday — At a National Press Club luncheon, leaders of the nation's three largest airlines reiterate their claims that the governments of Qatar and UAE are unfairly subsidizing their domestic airlines: http://bit.ly/1JB1sy2. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration meets for the second day to talk about training requirements for commercial vehicle drivers.
** A Message from Americans for Fair Skies: Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have subsidized their airlines with over $42 billion, an egregious violation of the Open Skies Agreements with the United States. These subsidies are hurting American jobs and affecting international trade policy. Want to know more? Visit http://politi.co/1bB6cbi **
BLUMENTHAL CASTS DOUBT ON NADEAU CONFIRMATION: He’s got President Barack Obama’s backing, but the sit-in leader of the Federal Highway Administration may have a tough time getting the Senate to take the “acting” prefix off his title. Obama announced Friday that he is nominating Greg Nadeau — who has been filling in as administrator since last July — to permanently take the post. That news was followed by a warning from Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who said “tough questions are head for this nominee — including the Administration's commitment to reforming a deeply flawed and failing agency, and to protecting motorists from severe dangers like defective, deadly guardrails. His current, extensive role at FHWA raises questions about his independence and zeal for reform, and resistance to regulatory capture. I’ll seek to assure that Mr. Nadeau can be the strong, reforming leader that FHWA needs.” A refresher on lawmaker concerns about the agency’s safety testing on guardrails: http://politico.pro/1AQkkE4. Details on Nadeau’s nomination: http://politico.pro/1AQjerW.
MAYORS UNIVERSALLY TRASH FEDERAL INFRASTRUCTURE EFFORTS: In the latest edition of POLITICO Magazine, Eva Rodriguez lays out the results of a survey of America’s mayors, explaining that “the cities’ CEO’s are disgusted with Capitol Hill” and that mayors were united in their belief that “the federal government and Washington officials weren’t doing enough to help their cities and their citizens and instead were ignoring key crises in infrastructure and education. Closer to home, most mayors reported that their greatest challenge involved fixing crumbling infrastructure — a problem they overwhelmingly believed should be a top priority in Washington. Their view that Washington needed to provide more funding for roads, bridges, and other infrastructure was bipartisan and comes as Congress is locked in a sustained battle over providing money for the nation’s Highway Trust Fund.” http://politi.co/1comkgQ
A4A LAUNCHES AD CAMPAIGN TOUTING ‘PERSONAL CONNECTION’: Airlines for America is beginning a new ad campaign today showing “airline employees guiding families, vacationers and business people, connecting the moments that matter to the depth and breadth of the airline industry.” The group is running ads on TV and radio, as well as in print, using airlines.org as the online hub for the campaign. “Our intent is to make the personal connection between the everyday air travel benefits we all enjoy and the magnitude of the industry that makes these moments possible,” Jean Medina, A4A’s senior vice president for communications, said in a written statement. “And it was critical to us that we feature airline employees who make this possible every day.” Check it out: http://bit.ly/1Ervtgj.
THE AUTOBAHN (SPEED READ):
— Toyota and Mazda consider sharing fuel-efficient technologies. The Wall Street Journal: http://on.wsj.com/1Ev72xC
— Airport security advances clash with privacy issues. The New York Times: http://nyti.ms/1IvGFNC
— Uber fund-raising points to $50 billion valuation. The New York Times: http://nyti.ms/1RoUL7H
— Detroit airport terminal evacuated for two hours after man made concerning comments to airline employees. Reuters: http://reut.rs/1PBoRRz
— Mitsubishi recalls 130,000 cars for faulty defrosters and head lights. The Wall Street Journal: http://on.wsj.com/1K0Qp4y
THE COUNTDOWN: Highway and transit policy expires in 20 days. DOT appropriations run out and the FAA reauthorization expires in 142 days. The 2016 presidential election is in 548 days.
THE DAY AHEAD:
9:15 a.m. — Vice President Joe Biden and Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx talk this morning about infrastructure investment at a forum hosted by Bloomberg Government: http://bit.ly/1cmQRvx. 1101 K St. NW, Suite 500
2 p.m. — Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell join a panel discussion on infrastructure financing during a forum hosted by the Brookings Institution’s Hamilton Project, in partnership Building America’s Future: http://bit.ly/1z1TNIH. 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Falk Auditorium.
3:25 — Rep. John Delaney and Alan Krueger participate in a roundtable discussion during the Brookings Intuition’s forum on infrastructure financing: http://bit.ly/1z1TNIH. 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Falk Auditorium.
Did we miss any events? Let MT know at transpocalender@poliitco.com.?
** A Message from Americans for Fair Skies: Many Americans aren’t aware that Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have perpetuated the largest trade violation in history by subsidizing their airlines with over $40 billion in subsidies. Protectionism in the Middle East is putting U.S. jobs at risk and hurting our economy. These government subsidies are flagrant abuses of our Open Skies Agreements. A recent report has provided evidence of massive, intentional, and sustained offenses over the past decade. These violations distort the market and harm American jobs. Read the full story now: http://politi.co/1bB6cbi
Restore Competition. Restore Open Skies. Fight for American Jobs. **
Stories from POLITICO Pro
Short-term transportation extension fog begins to clear
Shuster aided Virgin Islands — then asked for cash
Short-term transportation extension fog begins to clear back
By Heather Caygle | 5/8/15 6:26 PM EDT
A path forward for highway and transit programs on the brink of expiration is becoming clear as Republicans rally behind a year-end funding and policy patch.
Senate Environment and Public Works Chairman Jim Inhofe is now prepared to support a Highway Trust Fund patch that would run into December, ending an impasse between Republicans over the length of an extension.
While the Oklahoma Republican would still like a July patch, he’ll now also support a year-end extension as long as it leads to a long-term bill, EPW staffers told lobbyists in a Friday morning call. His change of heart comes after partisan bickering over the past week politicized what many initially considered to be a non-issue.
“The outcome of getting a long-term bill is the most important issue here, not the mechanism on how we get there,” said an Inhofe aide who confirmed the plan. “The mechanism is a distraction that can be easily politicized. It’s the outcome that matters.”
The decision was made after Inhofe felt Senate Democratic leadership turned the issue into a distracting “proxy fight” by threatening to block critical trade legislation until Republican leaders announced a path forward on highway funding, according to several sources on the call.
Inhofe’s support for any kind of extension that ultimately leads to a long-term bill, including one with a December sunset, ends a standoff with other Republicans, including Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch, who have publicly pushed for a year-end patch.
The EPW leader and his Democratic counterpart, Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), had been pushing for a midsummer extension of spending authority for the transportation programs, set to expire May 31. That kind of patch wouldn’t require revenue since the HTF isn’t expected to reach a critical level until late July, making it a seemingly easy vote for lawmakers and giving the EPW Committee more time to push out a long-term bill.
Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) and several groups with transportation interests all backed the midsummer plan, fearing that anything longer would make the HTF prey to a packed congressional calendar and lawmakers with short attention spans.
“I think in general, that an extension prolongs the pain,” Foxx said Friday. “It just creates uncertainty, and one worries that at the end of the year, in the rush that usually follows coming towards the end of the year, that this issue will get buried for a few months and raise its head again at the end of the year and perhaps lead to future extensions.”
But the idea of a two-month extension received pushback from leaders of the House and Senate tax-writing committees among others, who want a December extension of both policy and funding to shelve the issue for a while with the hope that lawmakers can reach a deal on tax reform in the meantime.
The intraparty impasse particularly came into focus this week after Senate Democratic leaders tried to use the GOP debate to their advantage by highlighting the fact that Senate Republicans hadn’t settled on a strategy just weeks before spending authority for the highway program is set to expire.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid has vowed to block trade legislation until GOP leaders announce a path forward on highway funding and an expiring surveillance bill, teeing up a possible standoff when senators come back into town next week.
Reid’s decision to hold the trade issue hostage and a blistering Thursday press conference that consisted of Democratic leaders blasting Republicans for inaction on highway funding has politicized the issue and turned the extension debate into a “distraction” that takes the spotlight off the need for a long-term bill, according to several sources.
But even as Republicans seem to be coalescing behind a year-end extension, lawmakers still have to find about $10 billion to pay for the measure, no easy task for a Congress that relied heavily on budget tricks just to get the last short-term extension passed.
“It seems to me to be a bit of a wasted exercise to spend a lot of energy trying to come up with enough to get us through December when it would require the same work to get us a six-year bill,” Foxx said. “So from my vantage point, the pressure should stay on. Congress should lock itself in a room and figure out how to get it done by the summer.”
Senate Democrats that have endorsed the midsummer patch aren’t giving up on the idea and as early as Monday or Tuesday could introduce legislation that would extend HTF spending authority for two months, according to sources.
And Inhofe still hasn’t abandoned hope of a long-term bill. He and Boxer are working to polish off a multiyear bill that could move through the committee this summer.
For Foxx, serious talk of a long-term bill can’t come soon enough.
“We ought to be embarrassed as a country,” Foxx said. “We just ought to be embarrassed that we have potholes in this country that aren’t filled, we have bridges that are crumbling, we have roads that need to be done, we have transit systems that are in a state of disrepair and others that need to be expanded, and we’re twisting in the wind.”back
Shuster aided Virgin Islands — then asked for cash back
By Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman and John Bresnahan | 5/10/15 9:19 PM EDT
A subscriber-only sneak peek of POLITICO's top story.
It was the fight the U.S. Virgin Islands could never win.
For two decades, the tropical U.S. territory’s top officials pushed to overturn an obscure regulation that limited the number of passengers on uninspected commercial charter boats to six. The regulation cost the islands hundreds of millions of dollars in tourism revenue and boosted the economy of its neighbor, the British Virgin Islands.
In 2014, the territory finally found a friend in Washington: House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Bill Shuster. The Pennsylvania Republican championed a provision that doubled the number of passengers permitted to be on board. That same month, Shuster hosted a fundraiser and collected more than $33,000 in campaign contributions from Virgin Islands donors who had never given to him before. Several of the donors told POLITICO they donated to Shuster specifically because he worked to change the regulation.
Nearly everyone involved in the process credits Shuster, who owns a timeshare in the Virgin Islands, with securing the change.
“He was instrumental in making that deal happen,” said Pash Daswani, president of Lucky Jewelers and head of the India Association of the Virgin Islands. Daswani attended a meet-and-greet with Shuster and former Virgin Islands Gov. John de Jongh in 2013 at which the need for changes to the so-called six-pack rule was discussed. Just days after the bill passed the House, Daswani gave Shuster $500.
Policymakers frequently raise money from individuals and corporations who have vested interests before Congress. But Shuster’s initiative in taking up such a parochial issue — the relaxing of the rule affected only the U.S. Virgin Islands’ situation — and the specificity with which donors connected their contributions to his work make this case unusual.
“[Shuster] came down to the Virgin Islands and gave a talk” about the boat regulation, said Steve Lammens, who cut a $1,000 check to the congressman, his first contribution to a federal candidate. “That was it. A one-time deal.”
Lammens said he “was given information” that Shuster’s panel had authority over the six-pack rule.
Noah Bookbinder, president of the liberal Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said the case appears to be “a naked example of policy being made because there is money there.”
“It does seem like a fairly stark example of an official being influenced by something other than what is in his constituents’ interest and what’s in the public interest,” said Bookbinder, whose group initially raised questions about the contributions and legislation to POLITICO.
Shuster’s spokesman, Casey Contres, said the Pennsylvania lawmaker’s fundraising is not linked to his work on legislation.
“To assert otherwise is simply not the truth,” Contres said in a statement. “He raised money for his leadership PAC in the (U.S. Virgin Islands) which helps support and maintain our Republican majority. He is always grateful to those supporters from Pennsylvania’s 9th congressional district and across the country who believe in his vision for ensuring that the federal government maintains its role in the transportation and infrastructure needs of the country.”
Contres added that while Shuster often travels to the Virgin Islands with his family for a one-week vacation, he does not have a financial interest in the maritime industry there and doesn’t personally benefit from the legislation.
Shuster did not work alone on the boating rule. Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), who chairs the maritime subcommittee, supported the provision. And Shuster had a willing partner in former Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), who also vacations on the island. Rockefeller, who left the Senate in January, had not received any contributions from Virgin Islands residents since 2011. Hunter has not received any campaign money from island residents during his six years in Congress.
That powerful partnership — Shuster and Rockefeller — helped break a legislative logjam that stymied former Virgin Islands Del. Donna Christensen during her entire 18 years in Congress. She spent years lobbying officials at the Coast Guard and the Department of Homeland Security and introduced legislation to solve the problem. All of those efforts went nowhere.
“It took having two people who were willing to work with us and just get it done,” Christensen said. “What made the difference was concentrating on Congress and having two members — one in the House and one in the Senate — who were familiar with the Virgin Islands and [who] understood the issue.”
Shuster, who heads one of the most powerful committees in Congress, has come under increased scrutiny in recent months. He is dating a top airline industry lobbyist and moved legislation last year that was a top priority of the commercial airline industry. He is currently working on sweeping legislation to overhaul the Federal Aviation Administration and renew authorization for billions of dollars in highway spending.
Shuster has not recused himself from aviation legislation, despite his relationship with a vice president of Airlines for America, a lobbying group that represents all of the U.S. legacy carriers. Republican leaders have stood by Shuster.
The six-pack rule Shuster helped to tweak dates back two decades. Part of the Passenger Vessel Safety Act of 1993, it was intended to reduce boating casualties, improve enforcement programs and put in place monetary damages for violations. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Coast Guard, sent a letter to Rockefeller after the House bill passed last year, citing concerns about passenger and vessel safety if the new rule was included in the final version of the bill, according to news reports.
After it went into effect in the 1990s, the rule had the unintended consequence of benefiting the British Virgin Islands, which did not have a similar law. The maritime industry accounted for $100 million to $130 million in revenue for the territory’s treasury, but that’s fallen to about $30 million since the rule’s implementation, according to the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Tourism. The department estimates the territory has lost $2 billion in revenue since the six-pack rule went into effect.
Shuster first started meeting with Virgin Islands officials about the boating regulation in late 2013, holding a meet-and-greet event.
Around that time, Shuster’s campaign account, the Bill Shuster Victory Committee, spent more than $4,000 in the Virgin Islands. He paid for lodging at the Frenchman’s Reef Marriott and food at the Grande Cru Restaurant and Wine Bar. Also listed on his campaign disclosure reports is $1,000 to a luxury boat company, Just Because Luxury Charters.
His activities in the Virgin Islands then do not appear to have resulted in a windfall of donations: The only company to contribute to Shuster’s joint victory committee during that period was alcoholic beverage company Diageo, according to disclosure reports.
At the same time, Virgin Island officials and their hired D.C. lobbyists were working hard to make sure key members of Congress would fall in line to support boosting to 12 the number of passengers permitted on uninspected yachts. The Virgin Islands had their longtime lobbyist, Kevin Callwood of Callwood Associates, working the issue. The territory added Patrick Robertson of FTI Consulting, a onetime deputy chief of staff to Rockefeller, to lobby specifically on the rule.
On Feb. 6, 2014, Hunter introduced the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2014. Section 319 of the bill included a provision to allow 12 passengers on uninspected boats that dock in the Virgin Islands.
That same day, then-Del. Christensen sent a letter to Shuster thanking him for taking up the cause.
“It is something I have tried to get done with the Coast Guard for years and I very much appreciate your willingness to do this,” she wrote.
Two months later, Christensen went to the House floor and praised Shuster — among others — for his work on the issue.
“I can honestly say it is only because of their efforts and the support of Chairman Shuster and ranking member [Nick] Rahall that we are on the cusp of finally resolving the issue,” she said. Then-Virgin Islands Gov. John de Jongh also traveled to Washington in September to thank the Pennsylvania Republican in person.
And Hunter lauded Shuster’s work on the bill when it passed the House. “Chairman Shuster’s leadership was essential to making this bill possible,” Hunter said in a statement.
The provision was tucked into legislation that became known as the Howard Coble Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2014. It passed Congress on Dec. 10 and was signed into law a week later.
Shuster returned to the Virgin Islands that month. His fundraising invitation for the Dec. 5 event did not mention the six-pack rule — though it did note his position on the Transportation Committee. His spokesman said that donors’ “intent does not equate to his intent. There was no nexus whatsoever behind PAC contributions and any official action taken.”
He raised $33,500 that month from Virgin Islands donors. That month Shuster’s Bill PAC account took in $75,500. Many of the Virgin Island contributors — businessmen, lawyers and developers — had previously given to Democrats as well as Republicans.
Peter Corr, who runs a private equity company in the Virgin Islands, said he found Shuster to be “incredibly pragmatic” and a “man of action” when it came to the charter boat rule.
There are other issues that he hopes Shuster can help the island with — more visas for sailors coming for regattas, for example. He contributed $1,000 to Shuster.
“He’s taken an interest in [the Virgin Islands] because he realizes that if the islands do really well … it’s better for the United States,” Corr said.back