Meeting_Body
EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
JANUARY 21, 2021
Subject
SUBJECT: STATE AND FEDERAL REPORT
Action
ACTION: RECEIVE AND FILE
Heading
RECOMMENDATION
Title
RECEIVE AND FILE State and Federal Legislative Report.
Discussion
DISCUSSION
Executive Management Committee
Remarks Prepared by Raffi Haig Hamparian
Government Relations Senior Director, Federal Affairs
Chair Garcetti and members of the Executive Management Committee, I am pleased to provide an update on several federal matters of interest to our agency. This report was prepared on December 28, 2020 and will be updated, as appropriate, at the Executive Management Committee meeting on January 21, 2021. Status of relevant pending legislation is monitored on the Metro Government Relations Legislative Matrix, which is updated monthly.
Federal Emergency Funding Package
In late December, Congress was able to reach agreement on a package of additional relief funding targeted at offsetting the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The President signed the bill on December 27, 2020. Included in H.R. 133 was welcomed funding to support transit agencies. Specifically, $13.27 billion will be distributed via formula similar to how the funding was allocated through the CARES Act that Congress approved in the spring of 2020 to help maintain transit operations throughout the nation. California is expected to receive roughly $1.9 billion of the $13 billion included in the bill. Metro's Planning department is preparing a report to the Board on Metro and LA County's portion. $10 billion was also included in this section of H.R.133 for State Departments of Transportation.
Surface Transportation Reauthorization
On June 4, 2020, Chair Peter DeFazio (D-OR) of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee introduced H.R. 7095 (Now H.R.2) - Investing in a New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation (INVEST) in America Act. The five-year reauthorization bill would replace the FAST ...
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