Infrastructure in the News: April 16, 2015
BAF IN THE NEWS
POLITICO: Watchdog report spooks investor visa advocates
Some have proposed even more dramatic changes in the program. Rendell has called for it to be moved under the management of the Commerce Department and converted to a government-allocated fund for infrastructure projects.
NATIONAL NEWS
New York Times: Driver’s License Suspensions Create Cycle of Debt
LEBANON, Tenn. — The last time Kenneth Seay lost his job, at an industrial bakery that offered health insurance and Christmas bonuses, it was because he had been thrown in jail for legal issues stemming from a revoked driver’s license. Same with the three jobs before that.
STATE NEWS
WBUR: MBTA Scaling Back Late-Night Service
http://www.wbur.org/2015/04/15/mbta-scaling-back-late-night-service
State transportation officials are paring back late-night MBTA service, saying the current pilot program is unsustainable.
The Hill: Feds tout new DC Metro train cars
http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/238654-feds-tout-new-dc-metro-train-cars#.VSwpaFmTG9M.twitter
The Obama administration is touting new train cars that are scheduled to debut on the Washington, D.C., Metrorail subway system on Tuesday.
Star Tribune: Dayton says debt-backed construction would boost state jobs
Gov. Mark Dayton on Tuesday called for $842 million in state borrowing to fund dozens of public construction projects all over Minnesota, saying the cost of the debt would be worth the economic jolt it would deliver.
Dallas Morning News: Editorial: A new vision for the Trinity
The history of the Trinity River project in Dallas is a history of distrust, frustration and division.
Georgia Tip Sheet: Ga. man arrested after attempting to build guard rail on spot where daughter died
A grieving north Georgia father took the state’s infrastructure backlog into his own hands last week when he attempted to construct guard rail along a bridge where his daughter recently died.
AP: Pedestrian bridge falls onto train tracks, no one hurt
BERWYN HEIGHTS, Md. — Transportation and emergency officials say a pedestrian bridge has fallen onto rail tracks in Berwyn Heights.
AP: Virginia looks to end contract to build new toll road
NORFOLK, Va. — After already spending more than $280 million on the project, the Virginia Department of Transportation gave notice Wednesday that it plans to terminate its contract to build a new toll road that would parallel the existing U.S. 460 from Suffolk to Petersburg.
Washington Post: Some Metro riders see technology winning out over customer service
The staff of the transit authority is working on getting Metro out of the paper Farecard business. One of the last forms of paper payments is theTransitLink Card, and Metro wants to stop selling them at the end of the year.
POLITICO MORNING TRANSPORTATION
By Jennifer Scholtes | 4/15/15 5:43 AM EDT
With help from Heather Caygle and Kathryn A. Wolfe
BIPARTISAN HOUSE DUO UNVEILING GAS TAX BILL TODAY: Reps. Jim Renacci and Bill Pascrell are introducing a bill today aimed at tackling the Highway Trust Fund crisis once and for all. The Renacci-Pascrell bill, first reported by MT in March, would index the gas tax to inflation and then form a sort of Highway Trust Fund supercommittee to find a long-term funding solution. Renacci told MT that many of the details reported in March — including that the committee would be both bicameral and bipartisan — are still accurate. (Refresher:http://politico.pro/1CbnwwS) But the Ohio lawmaker wasn’t as forthcoming when asked if he had the backing of other Ways and Means Republicans: “Everybody knows about it,” he said before walking down the Capitol steps Wednesday evening.
Senate scheming: Sen. Barbara Boxer said she and Sen. Rand Paul are planning on introducing their own transportation funding bill this week, an idea they first floated publicly in January. http://politico.pro/1JQf893
Markup pleas: Reps. John Delaney and Richard Hanna renewed their calls this week for House T&I and Ways and Means leaders to look over their proposal to use revenue from taxing overseas earnings to keep the trust fund in the black for six years. Their letter to the panel heads: http://1.usa.gov/1J4PqfO. Their bill: http://1.usa.gov/1PPKm40.
LAWMAKERS PREPARE TO PUNT: Forty-five days out from expiration of highway and transit program authority, it doesn’t seem like legislators are motivated to dig up cash for much more than another temporary extension. “This is the equivalent of punting on first down. Who the hell does that anymore?” Pete Ruane, president of the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, said to Heather about the likelihood that Congress will once again rely on a short-term fix. “We’re suffering in a purgatory of delays.” The full rundown from Pro: http://politico.pro/1b4FuIG
HEY, THURSDAY: Good morning and thanks for reading POLITICO’s Morning Transportation, your daily tipsheet on trains, planes, automobiles and ports.
If you’re looking for a work distraction this morning, MT highly recommends scouring the interwebs for Taylor Swift’s new Toyota hybrid commercial. Most of the mocking posts about the theatrical, Chinese ads are now devoid of accompanying videos, citing Toyota copyright claims. But some have lived on in cyberspace, and it’s well worth the search to see for yourself what HuffPo describes as “‘Hunger Games-type fire play” and “a very dramatic pianist”: http://huff.to/1H90MRc
“Sittin’ round in my abstract car, this abstract thing goin’ abstract far.” http://bit.ly/1PPcsfX
** Trucking Moves America Forward (TMAF) is an industry-wide image and education movement representing all areas of the professional truck driving industry. The industry contributes $682 billion in revenue every year to the nation’s economy. Seven million trucking professionals nationwide move food, fuel and critical cargo in manufacturing, healthcare, retail, and more. Learn more at truckingmovesamerica.com. **
GM GETS LIMITED PROTECTION FROM DEATH CLAIMS: A federal bankruptcy judge has ruled that GM is shielded from death and injury claims in crashes that happened while the auto manufacturer was in bankruptcy protection. AP explains, though, that the judge also ruled that, “under narrow circumstances, some plaintiffs who sued over a loss to the value of their cars due to faulty ignition switches can file claims against the company for actions after it left bankruptcy protection in 2009.” http://politico.pro/1EIfnTc
Appeal to come: Lawyers representing the owners of recalled GM vehicles said Wednesday that they will appeal the judge’s ruling. “We believe that New GM’s misconduct was in fact present in the sale of millions of defective vehicles — a truth that we believe New GM knew and chose to conceal,” Steve Berman, managing partner of the firm Hagens Berman, said in a written statement. “It cannot be the law that Old GM could hide the defects and subsequently use the bankruptcy court as a shield.”
Blumenthal’s scorn: Sen. Richard Blumenthal released a statement following the ruling, calling on the company to “truly leave behind the ‘Old GM’ and abandon the court-imposed shield to accountability.” The senator said the ruling “is a disgraceful defeat for American justice and for victims who are now denied their day in court,” and said he hopes an appellate court will reopen the case “because GM may well have achieved this legal shield by concealing its deadly ignition switch and deceiving the courts during its bankruptcy filing.”
MAKE YOUR CALENDARS, FAA ENTHUSIASTS: Senate Commerce is set to announce this morning that it is adding two subcommittee hearings on FAA reauthorization to next week’s agenda. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, chairwoman of the panel that handles aviation, will be calling a hearing Tuesday afternoon on delays in FAA’s certification process for new aircraft designs, followed by a hearing Thursday morning about infrastructure financing options for airports. Dorenda Baker, director of Aircraft Certification Service at FAA, is expected to testify Tuesday, alongside a GAO aviation expert and the president of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association.
ATTN. SHIPBUILDERS: NO MORE NSC CASH FOR YOU: Huntington Ingalls shipyard shouldn’t expect to rake in another $500 million to build an extra ship in the Coast Guard’s flagship National Security Cutter fleet. The agency’s head of operations told House lawmakers on Wednesday that Coast Guard commandant Adm. Paul Zukunft has made clear that “we can’t afford, don’t need, don’t want, a ninth NSC.” The service’s priority now is to invest in offshore patrol cutters to replace the 270-foot and 210-foot medium endurance cutters, which are now 25 to 50 years old. More from Pro: http://politico.pro/1NL44zA
‘BRIDGEGATE’ MIXUP: A New Hampshire man who confronted Gov. Chris Christie at a restaurant Wednesday about his role in the “Bridgegate” scandal may have been mistaken about being stuck in the New Jersey traffic jam in 2013 after all, POLITICO's Cate Martel reports. Richard Moquin, 68, shouted to Christie that he had been stuck in Fort Lee during the lane closures on the George Washington Bridge, according to The New York Times. "I always thought I was [there]. My wife said we were, but it was her fault," he joked with POLITICO. "We were in a big mess and we were two-and-a-half hours late for where we were going." http://politi.co/1FUACA1
FAA GETS IN ON ‘GYROCOPTER’ ACTION: The FAA says it is going to play a part in investigating the “gyrocopter” landing on the Capitol lawn Wednesday. The agency said the copter’s pilot was not in contact with air traffic controllers and was not authorized to enter into the highly restricted airspace.
WARREN WANTS MORE AUTO LOAN REGULATION: Arguing that auto dealers won a reprieve during the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial overhaul, Sen. Elizabeth Warren is calling now for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to regulate loans auto dealers make. “The auto loan market looks increasingly like the pre-crisis housing market, with good actors and bad actors mixed together … and it is no coincidence that auto loans are now the most troubled consumer financial product,” Warren said Wednesday in detailing a new list of proposed policy recommendations she said are needed to continue the “unfinished business” of the Dodd-Frank law. Pro’s Jennifer Liberto has more: http://politico.pro/1PNSz8Z
HOUSE LAWMAKERS INTRODUCE CRUDE-BY-RAIL SISTER BILL: Essentially putting forth a companion bill to a measure introduced in the Senate last month, five House Democrats introduced legislation this week aimed at improving the safety of oil transported by rail. Our Kathryn A. Wolfe has the details: http://politico.pro/1yvTAgM
MT MAILBAG: Rep. Doris Matsui and Sen. Richard Blumenthal have sent a letter to the head of the Coast Guard, expressing concern that the service is not heeding congressional mandates in developing new rules for the security of cruise ships and asking the agency to add more stringent policies. The lawmakers helped shepherd a bill to enactment in 2010 that required the Coast Guard to slap down specific new regulations, but they say in their letter that “there are several oversights in the proposed rules that bring us great concern.” The two legislators are asking the Coast Guard to require all cruise ships to install man-overboard systems and acoustic sounding devices. They want the Coast Guard to apply the legislation’s requirements to all voyages, regardless of whether they embark or disembark passengers in the U.S. Read the lawmakers’ other asks: http://politico.pro/1H9d3VP
Fischer asks GAO for West Coast ports report: Sen. Deb Fischer is calling on GAO to look into the economic effect of the West Coast ports dispute, Pro’s Marianne LeVine reports: http://politico.pro/1JKR5Ic. In a letter sent Wednesday, the senator asks the watchdog agency to examine the dispute’s effect on industry and to size up the costs of regional changes in freight movements that resulted from the nine-month labor disagreement between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association. The letter: http://1.usa.gov/1zhf6k0.
BEZOS SPACE COMPANY NABS LOBBYIST: Blue Origin — the private spaceflight company founded by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos — is launching an expanded lobbying operation in Washington. More from Pro’s Tony Romm: http://politico.pro/1D4AvO3
CONSULTANT GROUP OPENS INFRASTRUCTURE SHOP: A financial and government consulting group called 32 Advisors is launching an infrastructure practice. The company’s CEO and founder, Robert Wolf, said in a written statement this week that the new focus “presents a huge opportunity given the state of infrastructure in the U.S. and around the world. Pair that with the vast sources of capital that are sitting on the sidelines and public sector resources that are being underutilized, and one can see the need for an intermediary that can bridge this gap.”
THE AUTOBAHN (SPEED READ):
— Don’t make bicyclists more visible, make drivers stop hitting them. The Washington Post: http://wapo.st/1H7teCS
— Oklahoma bill on Uber deletes protection for gay riders. AP: http://abcn.ws/1IMqm0e
— Southwest plans to use wider seats in new planes. The Chicago Tribune: http://trib.in/1NN9Alb
— A century-old technique for analyzing transportation and industrial stocks is raising a warning for investors. Bloomberg Business: http://bloom.bg/1ytPwxb
— A Chinese firm acquires Segway. Reuters: http://reut.rs/1JK9DZn
— Possible TSA groping victims contact Denver authorities. AP: http://on9news.tv/1FMrDhG
— Delta posts record net income, reduces international service. The New York Times: http://nyti.ms/1DJKXzl
— South Koreans doubt ferry sinking will inspire improved safety. AP: http://yhoo.it/1yrsiaZ
— Germanwings crash could prompt remote override tech review. AP: http://abcn.ws/1HvEnOs
— Ride-share service bill hailed by Maryland lawmakers. AP: http://bit.ly/1HvE7yZ
— Asiana pilots ordered to do more training after 2nd crash-landing. Bloomberg Business: http://bloom.bg/1PQr4eY?
— Meet the opposition to Texas high-speed rail. CityLab: http://bit.ly/1b3WL4L
— BMW China dealers press automaker for more financial support. The Wall Street Journal: http://on.wsj.com/1CMfRTF
THE COUNTDOWN: Highway and transit policy expires in 45 days. DOT appropriations run out and the FAA reauthorization expires in 167 days. The 2016 presidential election is in 573 days.
THE DAY AHEAD:
All day — The Motor and Equipment Manufacturers Association hosts a legislative summit and will name Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell as its “2015 Industry Champion.” 1001 16th St. NW.
9:00 a.m. — DOT hosts information sessions for those seeking to apply for TIGER grants. The event is at capacity, but the event will be streamed live: http://1.usa.gov/1GMbUoj.
9:00 a.m. — The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration holds a forum to present the results of recently completed research projects, and to discuss current and future projects. 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE
That’s all, folks.
** Trucking Moves America Forward (TMAF) is an industry-wide image and education movement representing all areas of the professional truck driving industry. The industry contributes $682 billion in annual revenue to the nation’s economy. Seven million trucking professionals nationwide move food, fuel and cargo in manufacturing, healthcare, retail, and more.
The trucking industry strives for safer highways and has seen overall declines in truck-related crashes and fatalities over the past decade. Today’s modern trucks are equipped with technologies that not only make them safer, but also smarter and more fuel efficient than they’ve ever been before. The industry is committed to improving the environment.
TMAF is calling on lawmakers to pass a long-term highway bill to safeguard America’s federal highway program and provide certainty for the nation’s transportation needs. The passage of a bill is critical to modernizing aging infrastructure, ensuring our roads are safe for America’s families. Learn more: truckingmovesamerica.com. **
Stories from POLITICO Pro
Repatriation takes one step forward, another back
Congress prepares to punt as transportation cliff looms
Repatriation takes one step forward, another back back
By Heather Caygle | 1/29/15 6:06 PM EDT
A Capitol Hill odd couple is trying to solve a vexing problem: how to keep the Highway Trust Fund from going broke before May without a perilous gasoline tax hike. But key Republicans may stand in the way.
On Thursday libertarian-leaning Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and liberal California Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer introduced a bill that would encourage companies to bring back profits held overseas at a low tax rate and use that revenue to fund highway and transit programs for several years. But influential Senate Republicans were already dismissing the bill before its ink was even dry.
“That’s not going to solve the problem,” Senate Environment and Public Works Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) said. “What we’re going to try to do is do it better.” He added that the proposal could be part of a “package” funding deal.
Senate Finance Chairman Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) has also repeatedly said he doesn’t like the idea of a standalone repatriation bill, saying the proposal should be included in a broader tax code rewrite. On Thursday, Hatch dismissed standalone proposals to use repatriation to pay for infrastructure, saying, “I think we can do it without that, and secondly, that’s not what we should do with repatriation.”
“Repatriation may be necessary for true tax reform. We’ll just have to see,” Hatch told reporters.
Beyond Hatch’s opposition, which is significant, congressional scorekeepers would consider most proposals of this sort to be a tax cut, which under lawmakers’ budget rules could not be used to pay for anything.
And others are concerned that while repatriation may boost the Highway Trust Fund for a handful of years, it is a one-time infusion that doesn’t solve the real problem.
“I’d like to see us solve the problem for the long haul,” said Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), a vocal advocate of increasing the gas tax. Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) expressed similar sentiments.
For years, Congress has struggled with how to keep the Highway Trust Fund in the black as construction costs increased while gas tax revenues dwindled. Since 2008, lawmakers have periodically transferred money from the General Fund, often waiting until the last minute and leaving highway and transit agencies struggling to plan long term as they lurch from extension to extension.
The Paul-Boxer bill would tax companies’ current overseas earnings at a 6.5 percent rate, much lower than the normal 35 percent corporate income tax rate. U.S. businesses would have five years to complete the transfer and all the resulting tax revenue would be funneled into the Highway Trust Fund.
Paul had floated a similar repatriation-for-infrastructure idea with then-Majority Leader Harry Reid last summer when the Highway Trust Fund was on the brink of insolvency. But the proposal never gained traction, and Congress ended up enacting a 10-month extension funded through the tax-writing equivalent of finding change under couch cushions. In addition, last year, the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation said the Paul-Reid plan would actually end up costing $96 billion over ten years.
Now as lawmakers again start butting up against another funding deadline, repatriation has become the talking point du jour.
There is widespread acknowledgement within the administration and among Republican leaders in Congress that using repatriated revenue might be the least politically painful way to give the Highway Trust Fund a boost and keep the problem from cropping up again at least for a few years. It’s considered a much easier sale than a gas tax hike, which most transportation coalitions are still pushing.
“For them, it’s pain free — a big, one-time windfall of additional revenues that would come in right away,” said Ed Lorenzen, a budget expert and former senior advisor for House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.).
“Everything else sort of requires people paying more or getting less, and repatriation is something that although U.S. companies are paying taxes on it, they still benefit from it,” he said.
But interviews with several lawmakers reveal that while many members generally think using repatriation for transportation is a good idea, most of the agreement ends there. For instance, Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.) is pushing his own version of repatriation for infrastructure that would tax overseas earnings at an 8.75 percent rate and give Congress an 18-month deadline to overhaul international taxes.
There is also significant disagreement over the best way to move a repatriation proposal — whether as a standalone bill or tacked onto something much bigger, such as a rewrite of corporate tax laws of the sort Hatch supports.
Still, as the clock ticks down and Highway Trust Fund levels get dangerously low, the chatter around repatriation is only likely to get louder.
Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) told POLITICO he’s looking at partnering with Colorado Democrat Michael Bennet to introduce a Senate version of Delaney’s bill. Blunt and Bennet cosponsored a different infrastructure bill pushed by Delaney last Congress.
“I think everybody understands something happens to be done. There’s no immediate other solution that’s better,” Blunt said.back
Congress prepares to punt as transportation cliff looms back
By Heather Caygle | 4/15/15 3:53 PM EDT
Funding for highway and public transit programs is again on the brink of crisis, but don’t expect a solution from Congress anytime soon — at least not one that lasts.
With the clock ticking down on a May deadline to reauthorize highway and transit programs, hand-wringing among transportation interests is high. But there’s little evidence that lawmakers are willing to find enough money for much more than yet another temporary solution.
Leaders of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee were on the lawn of the Capitol Wednesday afternoon calling on their colleagues to fix the Highway Trust Fund now instead of relying on another short-term patch as a crutch.
But noticeably absent at the rally was anyone who can actually solve the funding crisis — primarily members of the Republican leadership or the chairman or ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee. Instead, Republican leaders were leading a Gold Medal ceremony inside the Capitol for a group of World War II heroes who flew bombing raids over Japan.
“This is the equivalent of punting on first down. Who the hell does that anymore?” said Pete Ruane, president of the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, about the likelihood that Congress will once again rely on a short-term fix. “We’re suffering in a purgatory of delays.”
Ruane was one of several transportation leaders who joined EPW Chairman Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) and his Democratic counterpart California Sen. Barbara Boxer at an afternoon press conference calling for a long-term bill. The event was just one part of a multiday “transportation fly-in” that included meetings between hundreds of lawmakers and transportation groups in addition to speeches by Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and House Transportation Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.), all to galvanize support for a five- to six-year bill.
Inhofe and Boxer are still holding out hope for a multiyear bill. Inhofe said they’re “nearly done” drafting the bill and met with Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) on the funding issue Wednesday.
“I would do almost anything to fill that trust fund,” Boxer said, adding that she’s finally unveiling her bill with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) this week that would use revenue from repatriation to shore up highway and transit funding. The duo first floated the proposal in January.
The hoopla in service of a long-term bill may be all for naught, though. Lawmakers have until the end of May to renew highway and transit programs, and the funding will last only a couple of months beyond that. But lawmakers appear no closer to a multiyear funding deal than when they passed a 10-month extension last summer. The Highway Trust Fund is now expected to reach critical levels near the end of July.
All indications on Capitol Hill point to another short-term patch, which would be the 33rd such extension in the last several years according to a count kept by the Department of Transportation.
Most lawmakers agree that a temporary fix is less than ideal, but other options are politically perilous or nonstarters. That menu primarily includes either hiking the gas tax, which has been stagnant for more than two decades, or cutting back federal road and transit spending to match current levels of gas tax revenues flowing into the Highway Trust Fund.
“There’s still that bugaboo of being labeled ‘tax and spend’ that is too prevailing, especially among the majority parties in both houses of this Congress,” said former Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.), who was the ranking Democrat on the House Transportation Committee.
Shuster has been talking with House Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and leadership about a patch, and staffers on both the House and Senate tax-writing committees have started looking for potential offsets. But Ways and Means and the Senate Finance Committee have flashier items in their crosshairs right now, including a trade deal between the U.S. and Pacific Rim countries, an Obamacare repeal and debate over a broader tax overhaul.
“A lot of work is just being quietly done at the staff level to come up with options,” Ways and Means member Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.) said about work on a transportation funding patch, adding that the committee is “really heavily focused” on trade issues right now.
“People look to Ways and Means to come up with the revenue, but Ways and Means priorities are going to be tax reform and other items in their jurisdiction,” said Ed Lorenzen, an adviser for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget and former House staffer. “They’d prefer to keep those options to pay for tax reform or other tax policy legislation they want to move and would be reluctant to give up offsets that are available to pay for the Highway Trust Fund. So that lends itself to people waiting until the last minute.”
Transportation groups continue to warn about the consequences of another patch, which would mean continued uncertainty for state DOTs and transit agencies looking to plan projects years in advance.
Short-term fixes are costly, too — since 2008, Congress has transferred about $65 billion into the Highway Trust Fund to keep it afloat, only about one-third of which was offset, according to Lorenzen.
Some states have already start to feel the impact — four states have announced they are cancelling or delaying transportation projects. Nine other states are threatening similar action.
The “fix it later” approach on highways has become all too familiar for lawmakers. Last year, Congress scraped the couch cushions to the tune of $11 billion to buy more time for the Highway Trust Fund and get the issue off the congressional calendar before it became a talking point in the November midterms.
“As long as they can find temporary actions and find gimmicks to pay for it, there’s not going to be the motivation to make the tough choices and find a permanent fix,” Lorenzen said. “When providing temporary fixes for the Highway Trust Fund starts involving political pain and tough choices, then the idea of deal that makes tough choices but puts an end to the process seems like a better deal.”
But this particular punt could have serious consequences. Depending on the length of the inevitable next short-term extension and in the absence of a long-term solution, the funding issue could crop up during the 2016 presidential election cycle.
Lawmakers have talked about trying to fix the Highway Trust Fund within a broader tax overhaul, but that sort of herculean legislative lift becomes less likely the closer the calendar creeps to 2016.
“Politics will definitely come into play,” Rahall said about the possibility of a short-term patch bumping up against the 2016 election. “Then you get into the fear of ‘we don’t want the other party to get a good bill and take credit for it.’ Things rarely get done for the good of the country in an election year.”back
POLITICO Pro Transportation Whiteboard: Court rules GM is shielded from death claims by bankruptcy
4/15/15 6:06 PM EDT
DETROIT — A federal bankruptcy judge has ruled that General Motors is shielded from death and injury claims in crashes that happened before it emerged from bankruptcy protection.
But Judge Robert Gerber ruled that under narrow circumstances, some plaintiffs who sued over a loss to the value of their cars due to faulty ignition switches can file claims against the company for actions after it left bankruptcy protection in 2009.
The ruling is a victory for GM. One plaintiffs' attorney said the decision shields GM from $7 billion to $10 billion in potential liabilities from lawsuits.
Lawyers for plaintiffs in about 140 class-action lawsuits had argued that their clients never got a chance to dispute the bankruptcy order because GM concealed the defective ignition switches.
— The Associated Press
To view online:
https://www.politicopro.com/go/?wbid=51817
POLITICO Pro Whiteboard: Metro and MARC disrupted after pedestrian bridge collapse
4/15/15 5:05 PM EDT
A pedestrian bridge leading from College Park to Berwyn Heights has collapsed, after a WMATA contractor working on a new track struck the concrete span with a rail crane boom.
WMATA said a portion of the concrete bridge over the Green Line collapsed at around 3 p.m. today. No one was hurt, according to The Washington Post.
Green Line service between Greenbelt and College Park is suspended, possibly “into the night.” Metro is instead offering shuttle bus service between the two stations. The Green Line between College Park and Branch Avenue is operating normally.
According to the Post, MARC trains aren’t running along the Camden line though they are working on restoring some service.
— Kathryn A. Wolfe
To view online:
https://www.politicopro.com/go/?wbid=51806
POLITICO Pro Transportation Whiteboard: Senate EPW nearly finished drafting transportation bill
4/15/15 4:04 PM EDT
The bipartisan leaders of the Senate EPW Committee say they’re “nearly done” drafting a multiyear transportation bill. But one big issue still stands in the way — funding.
EPW Chairman Jim Inhofe and ranking member Barbara Boxer called on their colleagues to take action during an afternoon press conference, saying now is the time to find the billions in additional revenue needed to support a five- to six- year bill. But the funding, as always, remains the problem and talk has begun to focus on another temporary patch.
"I would do almost anything to fill that trust fund," Boxer said, adding that she's preparing to introduce a bill this week that would shore up the Highway Trust Fund using revenue from repatriation. The bill, a tag-team effort with Sen. Rand Paul, has been in the works for a while — the duo first floated the idea publicly in January.
Boxer said she disagrees with the idea that lawmakers need to wait until they reach agreement on a tax overhaul before addressing transportation funding in the long-term, an idea floated by leaders of the House and Senate tax-writing committees.
“No, no, no, you can’t wait to fix the bridges,” she said.
— Heather Caygle
To view online:
https://www.politicopro.com/go/?wbid=51788
POLITICO Pro Transportation Whiteboard: Fincher wants committee action on Ex-Im by end of April
4/15/15 10:57 AM EDT
Rep. Stephen Fincher said today that if there is no movement on the renewal of the Export-Import Bank in the Financial Services Committee by the end of this month, “then we have to start looking at all options.”
The export credit agency is under threat as its charter runs out at the end of June, and panel Chairman Jeb Hensarling has expressed his desire to let it expire. On a call with reporters this morning sponsored by the Exporters for Ex-Im Coalition, Fincher said he and Hensarling have had “more than 10 conversations” about the issue, and that he has urged the chairman to “let us do this in the right way, and that’s the committee process.” The Tennessee Republican added that the chairman is “hesitant but open-minded.”
Fincher's remarks about “other options” is an apparent reference to asking the leadership to go around Hensarling and bring a bill to the floor. The congressman said he’s had multiple conversations with the House Republican leadership about Ex-Im’s renewal, and was scheduled to have another one later today. While he indicated he has received no commitments yet, he said he is hopeful that “if the committee process continues to be stalled, that this thing will get done.”
The congressman has sponsored a bill to renew Ex-Im that now has 60 Republican cosponsors, but he said a vote could see anywhere from 100 to 150 Republicans support the bank’s renewal. There is a competing House bill sponsored by almost the entire House Democratic caucus, but Fincher said he’s going to “stand firm on our reauthorization bill.”
He also noted language in his bill that would remove restrictions on coal financing — which is opposed by many Democrats — has also been included in past appropriations bills that Democrats voted to pass. “We think this is already a compromise,” he said. “Maybe some people would’ve liked to have seen stronger coal language.”
— Victoria Guida
To view online:
https://www.politicopro.com/go/?wbid=51724
POLITICO Pro Transportation Whiteboard: Coast Guard says no to more ships in flagship fleet
4/15/15 4:21 PM EDT
Don’t expect the Coast Guard to seek another $500 million to add a ninth security cutter to its flagship fleet, despite assurances previous leaders may have made.
“I can just tell you flat out, we cannot afford a ninth National Security Cutter,” the Coast Guard’s head of operations, Adm. Charles Michel, told lawmakers on the House Transportation panel that oversees his agency. “This is a very high-end ship. And frankly, we don’t need another NSC.”
The Coast Guard has planned all along to build a series of eight of the National Security Cutters and awarded its last contract for $499.76 million late last month to Huntington Ingalls Industries, the shipyard that built the first seven 418-foot vessels.
Rep. Duncan Hunter said the Coast Guard’s previous commandant, who retired last year, had suggested to lawmakers that the service may need a ninth in the fleet. And the subcommittee chairman noted that the service only has a few years to seize on the reduced price that comes with building several ships at once.
But Michel assured Hunter that the new commandant, Adm. Paul Zukunft, is decidedly against idea and wants instead to invest in an offshore patrol cutter fleet to replace the Coast Guard’s 270-foot and 210-foot medium endurance cutters, which are now 25 to 50 years old.
“I’ve talked to Adm. Zukunft. I’ll speak for him. He says we can’t afford, don’t need, don’t want, a ninth NSC,” Michel said. “We need the offshore patrol cutter. And I can’t say that in any clearer terms.”
— Jennifer Scholtes
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POLITICO: Watchdog report spooks investor visa advocates
Some have proposed even more dramatic changes in the program. Rendell has called for it to be moved under the management of the Commerce Department and converted to a government-allocated fund for infrastructure projects.