HR 3038 Passed in House

This afternoon the House took up HR 3038 under a closed rule (limited debate, no amendments) and then passed the bill by a strangely bipartisan vote of 312 to 119. As we have been seeing this session it this was a vote of the moderates against the party wings with more Republicans than Democrats voting against the bill.

The current highway funding program stops on July 31^st when the extension provided by HR 2353 (Public Law No: 114-21) runs out. The Senate may still try to get a multi-year funding bill passed by that date; the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee marked up a portion of that legislation (S 1732) today, but once that bill is combined with other committee efforts it will take some time to get it through the floor amendment process.

Even HR 3038 will probably get amended in the Senate if it is brought to the floor. The Hill is reporting that it would get an Export-Import Bank rider attached to it. That would bring out the conservative opposition with Sen. Cruz (R,TX) already threatening a filibuster.

Something will be passed by midnight on July 31^st. It just is not clear if it will be this bill.

Bills Introduced – 05-15-15

There were 48 bills introduced in the House on Friday (the Senate was not in session). Of those only two may be of specific interest to readers of this blog:

HR 2353 To provide an extension of Federal-aid highway, highway safety, motor carrier safety, transit, and other programs funded out of the Highway Trust Fund, and for other purposes. Rep. Shuster, Bill [R-PA-9]

HR 2379 To prohibit the transportation of certain volatile crude oil by rail. Rep. Lowey, Nita M. [D-NY-17]

A copy of the text of HR 2353 [typo on bill # corrected 5-18-15 0900 CDT] is already available. In addition to extending the current spending authorization for transportation related programs funded by the Highway Trust fund through July 31^st, it would also extend the funding for various hazardous material training and response programs for the same period. This bill will be considered by the House Rules Committee on Monday and the full House on Tuesday.

It looks HR 2379 will be another bill that would attempt to reduce the risk of fires and explosions from crude oil train derailments by limiting the volatility of that crude.