How our state's members of Congress voted last week
Here’s how Washington state members of the U.S. Senate voted on major issues in the week ending March 16. The U.S. House of Representatives was in recess. (A little background about why I’m re-posting this can be found here.)
SURFACE-TRANSPORTATION PROGRAMS: Voting 74 for and 22 against, the Senate on March 14 passed a bill (S 1813) to authorize federal road, bridge, transit and highway safety programs through September 2013 on a budget of $109 billion that would maintain present funding levels. All but $10 billion of the bill’s cost would be funded by the Highway Trust Fund, which draws its revenue from the 18.4 cents-per-gallon federal gasoline tax and the 24.4 cents-per-gallon federal diesel tax. The bill also would employ revenue measures such as higher taxation of Individual Retirement Account inheritances, changes in certain pension fund calculations and diversions from a federal fund to finance cleanups of leaking underground storage tanks.
The bill prohibits earmarks; provides financial incentives for state crackdowns on distracted drivers; combines 90 transportation programs into fewer than 30 and increases regulation of touring and long-distance buses. The bill also allows longer driving hours for agricultural truckers during planting and harvesting seasons; permits family farmers to use their vehicles within a 150-mile radius without having to obtain a commercial driver’s license; gives states more flexibility in allocating federal funds; sets the framework for a new national freight program and expands federally funded tax credits that leverage private investment in road projects of regional or national significance.
Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said 70,000 bridges in the U.S. “are structurally deficient, 50 percent of our roads are not up to standard. If you are in your home and you have little kids and someone who is an expert … says your house could easily crumble, we all know what you would do. You would get out of there, fix it, and then move the family back in. This is no different.”
Jim DeMint, R-S.C., said: “The problem we have now is that (about) 18 cents out of every gallon of gasoline comes to Washington and a majority of states get back less than they send. … Roads and bridges are decaying everywhere and we are behind on our maintenance in the building of new roads, so it is obvious that what we are doing is not working.”
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Voting yes: Maria Cantwell, D, Patty Murray, D
Voting no: None
Not voting: None
NATURAL GAS-POWERED VEHICLES: Voting 51 for and 47 against, the Senate on March 13 failed to get the 60 votes needed to advance a measure expanding the use of natural gas to fuel cars and trucks. The amendment to S 1813 (above) authorized tax credits to spur the building and retrofitting of vehicles to run on natural gas, and establish natural gas filling stations on U.S. roads. The credits would be offset by a new user’s fee, or tax, on natural gas used as fuel.
Robert Menendez, D-N.J., said: “Gas prices are skyrocketing. Meanwhile, natural gas is $1.50 cheaper than gasoline. We have a 100-plus-year supply of natural gas we can draw from. The only thing that is in our way is we have so few natural gas vehicles and refueling stations on the road.”
John Cornyn, R-Texas, said: “Consumer choice should be the driver of technology in the marketplace, not securing favor in Washington. In fact, today, consumers can evaluate a myriad of vehicles that fit their needs, from hybrids to traditional gasoline-powered vehicles.”
A yes vote backed the amendment.
Voting yes: Cantwell, Murray
Voting no: None
Not voting: None
DEVOLVING ROAD PROGRAMS TO STATES: Voting 30 for and 67 against, the Senate on March 13 defeated an amendment to S 1813 (above) to devolve most surface-transportation programs from Washington to the states. In part, this would involve each state keeping the revenue it generates through the federal gasoline tax and setting its own road, bridge, mass- transit and highway safety priorities and policies.
Sponsor Jim DeMint, R-S.C., said: “We are not talking about cutting spending on transportation (but) actually increasing it by moving this service back to the states where it can be guided with a lot more on-the-ground knowledge of what needs to be done, without all of the political maneuvering in Washington to send money to one state versus another.”
Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said the amendment “is the end of the federal highway and transportation system. … that has been in place since Republican President Dwight Eisenhower” in 1956.
A yes vote backed the amendment.
Voting yes: None
Voting no: Cantwell, Murray
Not voting: None
SHOPPING AT REST STOPS: Voting 12 for and 86 against, the Senate on March 13 refused to allow states to develop new revenue sources by providing food and shopping at rest stops on interstate highways. The amendment to S 1813 (above) sought to end a nearly 60-year ban intended to protect private businesses near interchanges from devastating competition.
Sponsor Rob Portman, R-Ohio, said that under his amendment, states “do not have to commercialize a single rest area … but they would have the opportunity to do so.”
Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said the amendment “would lead to devastating losses to those businesses that are located near interstate interchanges.”
A yes vote backed the amendment.
Voting yes: None
Voting no: Cantwell, Murray
Not voting: None
— Thomas Voting Reports, Inc.
