On March 17, The Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee marked up the transit portion of TEA-21 reauthorization legislation. The complete text of the legislation can be found on the website.

Much of the mark up discussion was criticism leveled at the Bush Administration for refusing to support more than $284 billion over six years. Committee members also criticized the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which they say took $1.7 billion in transit funding for highway programs. Banking Committee members vowed to work on raising the level of funding for transit programs contained in the comprehensive measure when the bill is on the floor. Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tennessee) has scheduled Senate floor time for the legislation the last two weeks of April.

The as-yet-unnumbered legislation would authorize $51.6 billion for transit programs, or roughly 18.2 percent of the total available funding. When $301 billion was guaranteed in the overall Senate bill in 2004, transit programs would have received $56.6 billion, or 18.8 percent of the total program. Paul Sarbanes (D-Maryland), Ranking Member on the Committee, had planned to offer an amendment that would have raised transit program funding to $53.3 billion. He decided, however, to not offer his amendment. He will work with key Senators to increase overall funding on the Senate floor.

Lawmakers have said they hope to reconcile the House bill (H.R. 3) and the Senate measure by May 31, when the current short-term extension of highway, transit, and highway safety programs expires. This deadline may be tough to meet.

The Senate Banking Committee has just released the manager's amendment (in .pdf format) containing a complete substitute of the affected legislation. They also released a section-by-section comparison.

Sen. Gordon Smith's (R-Oregon) amendment to restore $14 billion in Medicaid funding just passed, 52-48. Seven Republicans joined all 45 Democrats to support the amendment.

The additional funds represent a setback for the new chairman of the Budget Committee, Sen. Judd Gregg (R-New Hampshire), who had been fighting hard to keep the cuts intact.

During the debate on the fiscal 2006 budget resolution, amendments to both reinstate "Pay-As-You-Go" rules as well as an amendment to halt drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge were defeated. In addition, an amendment to restore funding to Amtrak was defeated.

We've got a list of the amendments added to the SAFETEA legislation in the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, starting with those agreed to as a group:

• Chafee #1 – Distribution of funds in the Aquatic Resources Trust Fund.
• Clinton #9 – To permit a state to certify that the state is making progress in developing and implementing a strategic highway safety plan.
• Clinton #13 – To expand Transportation Systems Management and Operations program to include all surface transportation modes.
• Clinton #14 – To align the horizon for new interstate highways and those for long range plans.
• Clinton #16 – To amend the definition of value engineering analysis.
• Lautenberg #6 – Infrastructure performance and maintenance program.
• Thune #1 – Acquire right of way in making final decision on a project. (as modified)
• Thune #4 – To ensure highway funds not be used in ways unrelated to transportation. (as modified)
• Vitter #2 – To provide that projects for the preservation, maintenance, and extension of hurricane evacuation routes are eligible for assistance under IPAM. (as modified)
• Voinovich #1 – High–Performance concrete bridge research & technology program. (as modified)
• Voinovich #2 – Use of material and products in highway construction.
• Warner #1 – Toll Programs.
• Warner #2 – Collecting tolls on High Occupancy Vehicle Lanes.

The rest were all disapproved or approved by a vote:

• Carper #1 – Passenger rail ridership in latest travel and emissions models. (WITHDRAWN)
• Clinton #2 – To rename a portion of Interstate route 86 near Corning, NY, after former Congressman Amo Houghton. (AGREED TO BY VOICE VOTE)
• Clinton #7 – To modify the multistate corridor program to make all designated high priority corridors eligible for funding. (WITHDRAWN)
• Clinton #21 – To include disadvantaged populations in the transportation planning process. (WITHDRAWN)
• Clinton #26 – To include bicycle and pedestrian projects in the definition of a public road. (WITHDRAWN)
• Clinton #31 as modified by Lieberman 2nd Degree – To increase the minimum amount a state’s funding can grow to 15%. (5 yeas, 13 nays)
• Lieberman 2nd Degree to Clinton #31 – Provides that the increase would only occur if the overall funding level in the bill is increased at a later time. (UC Agreement)
• Lautenberg #4 – Contributions to political campaigns. (DISAPPROVED BY VOICE VOTE)

Today two high profile amendments are up for votes in the Senate on the fiscal year 2006 budget resolution. The first is a measure to allow oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), the second, a proposal to reverse the resolution's deep cuts in Medicaid.

Other amendments being debated today include a measure to restore funding to Amtrak, which was cut entirely from the 2006 resolution, and a measure to restore "pay-as-you-go" rules to the budget process.

Yesterday, the House passed legislation that would temporarily extend the welfare law, giving lawmakers more time to complete a rewrite of the program. The measure, HR 1160, sponsored by Rep. Wally Herger (R-California), Chairman of the House Ways and Means Human Resources Subcommittee passed by voice vote and would extend the program through June 30. The Senate is expected to clear the bill this week before members leave for a two-week recess.

Legislators have struggled to rewrite the program amid partisan disputes and have passed short-term extensions to continue funding. The latest extension expires at the end of March. Lawmakers noted that each time they mark up this program through a series of short-term extensions, the gains made over the years are in jeopardy.

The House Ways and Means Committee will mark up a House Republican bill (H.R. 240) on Tuesday to rewrite the 1996 law. The measure would impose tougher work standards and provide $200 million annually in marriage promotion activities. Sponsored by Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-Ohio), the bill would require recipients to work 40 hours per week – 10 hours more than currently required – and would increase child care funding by $1 billion. The federal government now provides $4.8 billion annually to states to subsidize child care for the poor.

House Democrats said that the Pryce bill fails to provide states enough money and flexibility to ensure the remaining caseloads can leave the welfare rolls.

The Senate Finance Committee approved its draft bill to rewrite the 1996 law March 9. That measure, sponsored by Finance Committee Chairman, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) would increase child care subsidies by $6 billion over the next five years. It also would require adult recipients to work 34 hours per week.

The Senate is expected to take up legislation on the floor within months.

In a few weeks, Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Illinois), the chairman of the House International Relations Committee is expected to announce that he will not seek another term. A champion of the conservative movement, Hyde, 80, has said publicly that he will make up his mind for sure in April.

Rep. Hyde may be most known for his role as Judiciary Committee chairman during Clinton's impeachment in late 1998 and early 1999. Hyde's committee voted to impeach Clinton, and then Hyde was one of the House managers who presented the case against the president during his impeachment trial in the Senate.

Two of the four Senate committees which must act on reauthorization of TEA-21 are scheduled to do so this week. On Wednesday, the Committee on Environment and Public Works will consider the highway and research titles of the legislation. On Wednesday, the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs will take up the transit title.

In both of those committees it is expected there will be very few substantive issues discussed. One important exception appears to be the labor protection provisions in the transit program. As of this writing, it appears there will be a lively debate on the topic in the Banking Committee mark-up, including a possible amendment to strike the "Section 13 (c )" provisions from the transit act. Otherwise, members are being told to hold their issues for the floor.

The Committee on Finance, which handles the revenue side of the legislation, is not expected to meet until Congress returns in early April from its Easter Recess. At that time, there is a glimmer of hope they will develop a revenue package that would allow for the price tag on the bill to increase from the current level of $283.9 to something around $300 billion. By agreement with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tennessee) the committee leaders have agreed NOT to report a revenue title above the $283.9 billion level, but to hold the add-ons for consideration on the Senate floor.

The Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, which covers the highway safety title of the bill and any rail provisions is also expected to take up the bill in early April.

All of this activity indicates the goal of completing a House-Senate conference in time for the May 31 expiration of the current extension of TEA-21 may be achievable.

We will have further reports as the week goes on.

The House and Senate are currently engaged in very different struggles over their respective versions of the budget resolution for fiscal year 2006.

In the House, debate will begin this Wednesday. With the GOP's solid majority, Democratic amendments are not likely to derail the process. The ranking member on the House Budget Committee, Rep. John Spratt (D-South Carolina) plans to offer the Democratic substitute amendment to the Republican budget resolution. As in previous years, the Progressive Caucus and the Congressional Black Caucus will probably offer an additional Democratic alternative, but the Blue Dog Democrats will likely not. The real struggle is occurring on the other side of the aisle, where conservatives among the House Republicans are attempting to restrain any further spending increases, creating some tension with the leadership. Their frustration stems from the House Rules Committee, which is attempting to limit debate on the budget resolution. The fight will most likely be resolved behind closed doors, not on the floor.

On the Senate side, the far narrower gap between the Republicans and Democrats has led to a different series of problems, related to the number and size of cuts in the administration's proposal. As before, Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wisconsin) is expected to reintroduce an amendment to reinstate "Pay-as-you-go" rules requiring that any increases in spending by accompanied by increases in revenue, or vice-versa. In the past two years, his proposal has been killed in conference, leading GOP moderates to defeat the budget resolution last year. The continued deficits have led many in the Senate (like those in the House) to support spending cuts, but the programs targeted by the administration (including Medicaid and farm policy) are particularly popular among the moderate Republicans in the Senate who are necessary for passage.

Neither budget addresses the ongoing costs of the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan, or the president's new social security proposal, all of which could add more red ink to the already large deficit.