Congress has entered its August recess and lawmakers have gone home until September 9. Before leaving town, Congress passed a massive $2.7 trillion budget agreement that avoids sequestration and lifts the debt ceiling through the summer of 2021. The budget deal clears the path for Congress to begin its work on passing a series of twelve appropriations bills for the 2020 fiscal year when it returns in September. While the House has already passed its transportation spending bill, the Senate will now have to release its own bill before conference negotiations start. Federal agencies run out of money on September 30 and, barring any last-minute theatrics, Congress will likely pass a temporary spending bill (in the form of a continuing resolution) that will keep the government open into October until larger funding bills are agreed to. With the appropriations process taking center stage during September, a continuing resolution will be this year's best target for a legislative vehicle for a package of tax extenders that would include the short line tax credit. Legislation to make the short line tax credit permanent is currently has 260 cosponsors in the House and 59 in the Senate.

 

As the prospects for a comprehensive infrastructure bill fade amid disputes between Republicans and Democrats over funding mechanisms and congressional investigations into President Trump, the Senate is shifting its focus towards the next best vehicle for infrastructure: reauthorizing existing surface transportation policy that is set to expire at the end of September 2020. Reauthorizing the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, which provided $305 billion over 5 years, is a lengthy process that is already underway. Senate committees are working on a 5-year surface transportation bill that covers 2021-2025 and will include money for rail, transit, Amtrak and highway safety. At the end of July, the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee released its highway title of FAST Act reauthorization, entitled "America's Transportation Infrastructure Act of 2019," which expanded the INFRA Grant Program and continued funding for the Railway-Highway Crossings (Section 130) Program. The Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee is expected to release their version of surface transportation reauthorization with a rail title in late October or November.

 

Now in the process of developing its rail title for surface transportation reauthorization, the Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee held a hearing on the status of positive train control (PTC) implementation that featured FRA Administrator Ron Batory and witnesses from Wabtec, Metra, and BNSF Railway. 91% of PTC is operational on Class I route miles as of July 1. Meanwhile, the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure's Rail Subcommittee held a roundtable discussion with railroad shippers, where Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-Oregon) attacked precision scheduled railroading (PSR) for increasing demurrage rates.