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CALL-TO-ACTION! We are asking you to:
- Arrange a call with your local legislators by calling the district office and talking to their staff. Ask their staff if you could set up a call to discuss the issues that are impacting your industry;
- Arrange a meeting in your local legislators’ district office by asking the staff if you can arrange a meeting to discuss issues that are impacting your industry; or
- Arrange and coordinate a coffee/breakfast with your local legislators at your operations so you can introduce them to your staff and provide a tour of your motorcoach operations. This is a great way for them to really get to know you, the investment you’ve made to the local community and how critical your business is in their district. They love to hear and learn first-hand what their constituents are doing and how they are helping the community. This gives you a great venue for you to learn more about them as well, and what policies they may be working on that will ultimately impact you and your company.
As promised when announced, I am including some industry talking points you can copy, paste (or add your own) then either send or drop-off in person.
State Priorities
EVs – Motorcoach/Bus Industry - A combination of federal and state regulations to address climate change through emissions regulation and forced transition to zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs), is a daunting prospect for the motorcoach industry. The current Administration and California Air Resources Board (CARB) are forcing unreasonable demands and timelines on surface transportation industries.
Technology - zero-emissions technology for Class 8 vehicles (trucks and buses) has not sufficiently progressed to meet current operational needs, both in terms of range and capacity. It is unclear at this time whether hydrogen (either fuel cell or internal combustion engine (ICE)) or battery technology will prevail, as each has its drawbacks; however, as of this time, neither technology can match current operational needs.
Infrastructure - the infrastructure necessary to support full scale or even partial transition to ZEV operations does not exist. Through legislation and grant programs the Administration is attempting to address this gap; however, these efforts do not align with the timelines of EPA/FHWA/NHTSA and CARB rules. Also, as technology remains under development and split between battery and hydrogen, investment and build-out of appropriate fueling infrastructure does not and will not align with bus/motorcoach operational needs.
Cost - the cost of a ZEV motorcoach is more than twice the cost of a traditional diesel powered motorcoach (i.e. ~$500,000 v. ~$1.2 million), and this does not account for additional costs of fueling infrastructure installation and coordination with power suppliers. Also, zero-emission motorcoaches cannot provide a 1:1 operational replacement to diesel vehicles, in terms of range, capacity or for that matter, resale value. Further, legislation in support of ZEV transition has noticeably left out the private motorcoach industry; in comparison, robust federal funding for ZEV transition is available to the public transit industry (often a competitor of the private bus industry) and the school bus industry.
PRIORITY: Elected officials need to understand the unique challenges the motorcoach industry faces from a ZEV transition. The motorcoach industry is fully supportive of addressing climate change concerns and has a strong environmental record of providing benefits by taking vehicles off the road, reducing congestion, and reducing harmful emissions through technology innovation. However, recent regulations and timelines are unreasonable, and take no account of the environmental benefits already provided by motorcoach travel. We seek relief from these unreasonable regulatory burdens and deadlines.
Recent Legislation that PBA Supports:
SB 37 (Brown, R-Monroe) passed in the House on April 9 and is awaiting final passage by the Senate. The bill would increase penalties for texting while driving violations and prohibit the use of a “handheld interactive mobile device” while driving. The term “handheld interactive mobile devices” excludes “a device that is affixed to a mass transit vehicle, bus or school bus”.
HR 322 (Mullins, D-Lackawanna) was reported from the House Transportation Committee on March 18. The resolution urges Congress to pursue legislative remedies to allow individuals 18-20 years of age with a Commercial Driver's License to participate in interstate commerce activities. The companion legislation, SR 257 (Rothman, R-Cumberland), was introduced and referred to the Senate Transportation on April 5.
Federal Priorities
Toll parity: Although there is little, we can continue to do on the Congestion tolling front, we are hoping that we can extend the toll parity that we have established in the FAST Act to all current and future congestion tolling projects. The precedent is set, hopefully, we can use that to our favor.
Speed limiter: FMCSA still has the pending proposal for the speed limiter and although they have still yet to establish the national speed that they wish to govern commercial vehicles at, it is coming. We have encouraged Congress to look into Bill H.R. 3039/S2671 DRIVE Act which is the Regulating Restrictions on Interstate Vehicles.
CERTS Tax Fix: Congress enacted the Coronavirus Economic Relief for Transportation Services Act (CERTS Act) as part of the FY 2021 Omnibus bill in late December 2021, to assist the private bus and school bus industries and others through the COVID 19 pandemic. However, in the frenzy to have the CERTS Act included, relief from the tax liability for receiving the grants was overlooked. Unlike the Paycheck Protection Act and Shuttered Venues Act, CERTS grant recipients had to pay a good portion of their assistance back due to the tax liability. The bus industries have sought to amend the CERTS Act to eliminate the tax liability, with the effort led by champions Reps. LaHood and Panetta in the House (H.R. 3510), and Senators Casey, Blackburn, Reed and Collins in the Senate (S. 1944). To enact the fix, we have been told to wait for a broader tax package.
A tax package, H.R. 7024, is now making its way through Congress, and provides an opportunity to address the CERTS grant tax fix. The bill now sits with the Senate, and we have bipartisan Senators ready to file an amendment to add the CERTS tax fix language to the tax package, when the Senate begins to move it.
PRIORITY: PLEASE SUPPORT inclusion of the CERTS tax fix (either S. 1944 or H.R. 3510) in the 2024 tax package, H.R. 7024. The bill currently sits in the Senate awaiting action – please contact Senator Casey’s office (Corey Husak: Corey_Husak@casey.senate.gov) and/or Senator Blackburn’s office (Jack Boyd: jack_boyd@blackburn.senate.gov), and tell them you support the inclusion of the CERTS tax fix in the final tax package. Businesses continue to struggle and need this funding restored.
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