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Caltrain Federal Update September 2015

FY 2016 Appropriations Update: On September 25, House Speaker (R-OH) announced he would resign as Speaker of the House and will retire from Congress on October 30, 2015. Boehner stated, "The first job of any Speaker is to protect this institution that we all love. It was my plan to only serve as Speaker until the end of last year, but I stayed on to provide continuity to the Republican Conference and the House. It is my view, however, that prolonged leadership turmoil would do irreparable damage to the institution. To that end, I will resign the Speakership and my seat in Congress on October 30.”

At a closed-door meeting of House Republicans on Friday morning, Boehner not only announced to the conference that he would be resigning as Speaker, but also said that he plans to bring a clean continuing resolution (CR) to the floor as soon as it is received from the Senate in order to prevent a government shutdown.

Following his announcement, House Republicans agreed to pass a clean short-term spending bill to avert a government shutdown through December 2015. Several members of the House , the conservative group which led the revolt against Boehner’s leadership, said they will now support a clean CR without demands to defund Planned Parenthood attached to it.

The short-term clean CR would keep the government funded until December 11, 2015 at an annualized rate of $1.017 trillion, which is roughly flat funding compared to current levels. The CR also includes $700 million in emergency funding to suppress Western wildfires and a reauthorization of the E-Verify program and the Internet Tax Freedom Act. The Obama administration said in a Statement of Administration Policy (SAP) issued on September 28 that it would support the CR. On September 28, the Senate 77 to 19 in favor of limiting debate on the “clean” CR. Congress must pass the CR before the end of the day on September 30 to avert a shutdown and is expected to do so.

Impact of House Republican Leadership Changes: On Monday, September 28, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) announced that he would run for Speaker. His only challenger is Rep. Daniel Webster (R-FL), whose district might be eliminated by the 2016 election.

To be elected Speaker, 218 votes of the whole House, not just a majority of the Republican party, must be secured. It is also expected that House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price (R-GA) and Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) will compete against each other for Majority Leader. At this time, Chief Deputy Whip Patrick McHenry (R-NC) and House Rules Committee Chairman are running for Majority Whip. In addition to passing FY 2016 appropriations legislation, there are numerous looming legislative deadlines at the end of 2015 (debt ceiling, Export-Import Bank, transportation bill, FAA reauthorization, etc.). Looking forward, there are two main scenarios: (1) Speaker Boehner negotiates a broad agreement on a range of issues before departing in October; or (2) things become even more contentious and dysfunctional as a newly-elected House leadership adheres to a hard line based on emboldened conservatives that just successfully took down the Speaker. The latter scenario of course raises the risks of a shutdown in December, a partial shutdown or a yearlong continuing resolution.

Surface Transportation Reauthorization: On July 29, the House passed legislation extending the Highway Trust Fund through October 29, 2015 (H.R. 3236) by a vote of 385 to 34. On July 30, the Senate passed the legislation by a vote of 91 to 4. The Senate also passed a six year transportation reauthorization authorization legislation, the DRIVE Act, by a vote of 65 to 34.

The House has almost completed its draft of the surface transportation reauthorization legislation. On September 29, House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA) said he expected House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) to wrap up a package of permanent tax break extensions for businesses this week, and the committee was holding off marking up its surface transportation reauthorization (HR 22) until he gets a summary of Chairman Ryan’s plan for helping offset the $15 billion annual shortfall in the Highway Trust Fund. Once the House passes its legislation, the House and Senate can meet in conference to reconcile the differences between the two bills.

Department of Transportation Issues New Forecast for the Highway Trust Fund Solvency: The Department of Transportation (DOT) has recently announced that the General Fund transfers made in the recent Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice Improvement Act will maintain sufficient monies for the Highway Trust Fund through the third quarter of fiscal year 2016 – sometime between July and October of next year. Previously, it was maintained that the latest infusion from Congress would hold the HTF over until mid-December 2015.

However, DOT did add that while sufficient balances exist to maintain the HTF well into FY 2016, authority for the programs funded by the HTF will still expire October 29 absent Congressional action. A potential lapse could still prevent new obligations to States and impact reimbursements on current highway and transit programs.

Positive Train Control: On September 4, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report analyzing the deadline for the implementation of positive train control (PTC). The report concluded that the majority of railroads will not be able to meet the deadline of December 31, 2015. The 2015 report highlighted the following barriers to PTC implementation:

• Hurdles in development of appropriate technology for PTC implementation

• Challenges in radio frequency spectrum acquisition and finding sufficient funding for acquisition

2 • Complexities working with other railroad carriers that use the same set of tracks; and insufficient detail in the railroads’ reports submitted to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) that would enable proper oversight

The railroads interviewed by GAO agreed that a deadline extension is needed. The GAO recommended that the FRA develop an improved oversight plan, detailing its approach to monitoring railroads’ progress to ensure compliance with proposed implementations plans and outlining strategies for addressing implementation challenges.

The Senate passed DRIVE Act extends the PTC deadline to December 2018 and makes a number of requirements from the railroads. The House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee is expected to introduce legislation next week to extend the PTC deadline to December 2018 with an option for the Secretary to extend one year and then an additional year. The legislation will most likely pass the House, and then be included in the Highway Trust Fund extension.

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