GTS Dean
Enthusiast
Tired of those massive tires on your favorite snake "tramlining" down rutted roads? Mad about potholes ruining expensive tire sidewalls and bending your aftermarket rims? Sick of being stuck in traffic congestion that never seems to get any better? Then read on...
The incoming House Republican majority yesterday unveiled its proposed rules for operating the chamber in 2011 and 2012. Authors of the package claim it will increase transparency and make it easier to cut federal spending.
Among the proposed rules changes is a repeal of the guaranteed funding requirement for annual federal highway investment. Currently, any member of the House can raise a point of order to block legislation that would reduce federal highway investment from the levels set in a multi-year reauthorization bill. These guaranteed investment levels are based on incoming Highway Trust Fund (HTF) revenues. This protection was the most significant contribution of the 1998 surface transportation bill TEA-21 as it restored integrity to the Highway Trust Fund by assuring all highway user fees collected by the federal government were invested in surface transportation improvements.
According to a press release from House Rules Committee Republicans, under this change: “Highway funding, with some exceptions, will now be treated as other general spending and therefore be subject to any member attempt to reduce the spending.”
This proposal, if approved, would allow Congress to return to the pre-TEA-21 days where highway investment was held below incoming HTF revenues to offset spending in other parts of the federal budget.
Republicans will vote on this package, and amendments to it, Tuesday, January 4, 2011. Democrats will be given an opportunity to offer an alternative on January 5 (which is predestined to fail). As such, this is an entirely House GOP game and it is happening fast.
The only way this package will be modified is if House Republicans hear from their constituents over the next two weeks about the damage this proposal would do to state transportation programs and the transportation construction industry.
Please tell your House Republican current and incoming members:
· The proposed House Rules change with respect to highway investment should be dropped as it would break the pledge with motorists by allowing federal gas tax revenues to be withheld instead of invested in transportation improvements.
· The plan would inject further uncertainty into an already destabilized U.S. transportation construction marketplace where unemployment is in excess of 18 percent—twice the national average.
· The 112th Congress should focus on enacting a multi-year reauthorization of the federal surface transportation program that creates jobs and boosts the economy, not on procedural maneuvers that make it easier to cut highway investment.
Drop your representative an email asking that they OPPOSE changes to Rule XXI, Clause 3 for the 112th Congress! Remember - your federal gas taxes have not been increased in nearly 18 years and they are not indexed for inflation or increased fuel economy. All they can be spent for is transportation.
This is an issue of tax integrity and the User Fee / Trust Fund concept.
Thank you for your consideration....
The incoming House Republican majority yesterday unveiled its proposed rules for operating the chamber in 2011 and 2012. Authors of the package claim it will increase transparency and make it easier to cut federal spending.
Among the proposed rules changes is a repeal of the guaranteed funding requirement for annual federal highway investment. Currently, any member of the House can raise a point of order to block legislation that would reduce federal highway investment from the levels set in a multi-year reauthorization bill. These guaranteed investment levels are based on incoming Highway Trust Fund (HTF) revenues. This protection was the most significant contribution of the 1998 surface transportation bill TEA-21 as it restored integrity to the Highway Trust Fund by assuring all highway user fees collected by the federal government were invested in surface transportation improvements.
According to a press release from House Rules Committee Republicans, under this change: “Highway funding, with some exceptions, will now be treated as other general spending and therefore be subject to any member attempt to reduce the spending.”
This proposal, if approved, would allow Congress to return to the pre-TEA-21 days where highway investment was held below incoming HTF revenues to offset spending in other parts of the federal budget.
Republicans will vote on this package, and amendments to it, Tuesday, January 4, 2011. Democrats will be given an opportunity to offer an alternative on January 5 (which is predestined to fail). As such, this is an entirely House GOP game and it is happening fast.
The only way this package will be modified is if House Republicans hear from their constituents over the next two weeks about the damage this proposal would do to state transportation programs and the transportation construction industry.
Please tell your House Republican current and incoming members:
· The proposed House Rules change with respect to highway investment should be dropped as it would break the pledge with motorists by allowing federal gas tax revenues to be withheld instead of invested in transportation improvements.
· The plan would inject further uncertainty into an already destabilized U.S. transportation construction marketplace where unemployment is in excess of 18 percent—twice the national average.
· The 112th Congress should focus on enacting a multi-year reauthorization of the federal surface transportation program that creates jobs and boosts the economy, not on procedural maneuvers that make it easier to cut highway investment.
Drop your representative an email asking that they OPPOSE changes to Rule XXI, Clause 3 for the 112th Congress! Remember - your federal gas taxes have not been increased in nearly 18 years and they are not indexed for inflation or increased fuel economy. All they can be spent for is transportation.
This is an issue of tax integrity and the User Fee / Trust Fund concept.
Thank you for your consideration....
