With both chambers of Congress on recess until the week of April 19, lawmakers will have a tough time reconciling differences between the two reauthorization bills by April 30, when the current TEA-21 extension bill elapses. Members of both parties would like to avoid passing a third temporary extension, especially as the transportation construction season begins in many of the northern states. Speaking for Senate Democrats, BNA News Service reported that Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-South Dakota) commented that Democrats are “very hopeful that we can move to the discussions about how we can resolve the differences with the highway bill as quickly as possible.”

Senator Daschle favors a pre-conference on the reauthorization bill, which the Senator feels will ensure minority participation. Recently, Senator Daschle has been dismayed at what many Democrats feel are attempts by Republicans to exclude them from conference committees. “My concern is that as we’ve seen with virtually every conference, Democrats are locked out or unable to sustain the position even that the Senate itself has taken on given issues”, said Daschle.

For months, Daschle has fought attempts by Republicans to shut out Democrats in conference and has even issued threats to block certain conference committees from considering legislation. Daschle became even more vocal is his denunciation of Republican tactics during the conference committee on the pension reform bill. At the request of the White House, conferees on H.R. 3018 removed a provision supporting certain multi-layer employer plans without the consent of Democrats and over the objection of a majority of Senators. The Democrats decried the actions of conferees, claiming that no Democrat was consulted before the provision was removed from the conference report. Republicans have answered Daschle’s charges by accusing the Senate Minority Leader of obstructionism and using the Senate floor as a campaign tool. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tennessee) commented that he was “really bothered by the fact that we are not being allowed to govern, to debate, to amend, to pass legislation that is in the best interest of the American people.”

With regard to the highway bill, Senator Frist opposes a pre-conference on the basis that Democrats would only use such an occasion to stall negotiations until their demands were met. However, Daschle maintains that a pre-conference is the only mechanism to guarantee Democrats a voice in the entire process.

With the Republicans refusing to pre-conference on the highway bill, Democrats can either relent in their demands or delay the entire process, which would necessitate the passage of a third TEA-21 extension bill. State transportation departments and highway contractors desperately want a long-term bill passed soon, so highway construction planning can commence.

A spokeswoman for Majority Leader Frist confirmed that the Senator would try and appoint conferees by the end of the week. Republican leaders in both chambers must still sort out how large the conference committee will be and how many committees in the House and Senate will have jurisdiction over the reauthorization bill.