March 29, 2019 – After more than two years without a Federal Highway Administrator, the U.S. Senate yesterday voted to confirm the nomination of Nicole R. Nason to fill the post.
March 29, 2019 – In response to the two recent Boeing 737 MAX plane crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia, the Subcommittee on Aviation and Space held a hearing Wednesday, March 27, titled, “The State of Airline Safety: Federal Oversight of Commercial Aviation.”
March 29, 2019 – I had the honor of working under three Secretaries – Ray LaHood, Anthony Foxx, and Elaine Chao. Each demonstrated a dedication to nurturing the transportation workforce.
March 29, 2019 – It’s no secret a lot has changed since passengers first took to the sky, both in terms of regulation and operation, and not just when it comes to affordability. After years of progress, women are now in the cockpit and the boardroom, Elaine Chao heads the Department of Transportation (DOT), and women are making names for themselves in a previously male-dominated industry.
March 28, 2019 – The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee met March 27th to consider eight bills in a markup session, including bills to provide stopgap funding for the FAA and Coast Guard during government shutdowns.
March 29, 2019 – On March 26, the House Aviation Subcommittee hosted a hearing, “The Cost of Doing Nothing: Why Investment in Our Nation’s Airports Matters.”
March 28, 2019 – The Senate subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies held a hearing on March 27 inviting Secretary of Transportation, Elaine Chao as a witness to review the FY20 budget request for USDOT.
March 29, 2019 – Given the budget constraints state and local governments face, infrastructure companies are stepping up. They are working with governments to build state-of-the-art managed lanes and toll roads, and these roads are the best platform to test autonomous vehicles.
“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” — The Bible “All this has happened before, and all of it will happen again.” — Battlestar Galactica The skyrocketing deficits of the mid-1980s led Congress to enact the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings law in 1985, which […]
March 22, 2019 – Senate Budget Committee chairman Mike Enzi today introduced a 2020 budget plan that assumes that Congress will enact somewhere around $85-90 billion in new highway user taxes over five years to keep the Highway Trust Fund solvent at baseline funding levels.
March 21, 2019 – President Trump on March 19 made the long-awaited announcement that he will nominate Stephen Dickson, a longtime pilot and executive with Delta Air Lines, to be Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration.
March 22, 2019 – Just a day after the White House released their budget proposal for 2020, which would significantly cut funding for rail and transit programs, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development held a hearing on March 12 to discuss the challenges and opportunities regarding passenger rail development.
March 21, 2019 – On Tuesday, March 12 the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation held a hearing on the Future of Aviation touching on a mélange of emerging trends in aviation and aerospace.
March 20, 2019 – The President’s fiscal year 2020 budget request for the Department of Homeland Security includes proposals for a small cut in Transportation Security Administration operational funding, a large cut in Coast Guard procurement, and a two-thirds cut in Federal Emergency Management Agency transportation security grants.
March 21, 2019 – Amtrak sent its fiscal 2020 budget request to Congress yesterday and asked for $141 million less than Congress actually appropriated for fiscal year 2019. The 2020 request of $1.80 billion is the amount authorized by Congress in the FAST Act of 2015, but Congressional appropriations for Amtrak and other railroad programs in 2018 and 2019 have exceeded the authorized amounts significantly.
Tuesday, March 26 – House Transportation and Infrastructure – Subcommittee on Aviation – subcommittee hearing on investment in airports (witness list here) – 10:00 a.m., HVC-210, Capitol Visitors Center. Tuesday, March 26 – House Appropriations – Subcommittee on Transportation and Housing – subcommittee hearing on budget requests from House members – 11:00 a.m., 2358-A Rayburn.
March 20, 2019 – What a difference a year makes. In 2019, the Trump Administration requested zero new funding for discretionary grant programs. In 2020, they are requesting $4 billion.
March 19, 2019 – The details of the President’s budget proposal for fiscal 2020 make it clear that, if the Trump Administration has a plan for long-term fiscal solvency of the Highway Trust Fund, they aren’t presenting it in this budget
March 19, 2019 – The Federal Highway Administration, in a funding notice (N4510.835) dated March 15, formally gave states DOTs $3.2 billion in highway funding from the general fund of the Treasury provided by the omnibus fiscal 2019 appropriations act.
March 19, 2019 – As part of the release of the supporting documentation for the 2020 budget request, the Office of Management and Budget has released the 2020 sequestration preview report which, for the first time, lets Congress know the exact amount of the Budget Control Act caps on discretionary spending for 2020. It also contains the Trump Administration’s plans for getting around those spending caps in 2020 and 2021 and for extending the caps through 2029.