Meeting_Body
EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
APRIL 18, 2019
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 Kuehl and members of the Executive Management Committee, I am pleased to provide an update on a number of federal matters of interest to our agency. This report was prepared on April 2, 2019 and will be updated, as appropriate, at the Executive Management Committee meeting on April 18, 2019. Status of relevant pending legislation is monitored on the Metro Government Relations Legislative Matrix, which is updated monthly.
Reauthorization/Trump Infrastructure Plan
As we have discussed for the better part of two years, discussions in Washington, DC about moving forward with an infrastructure plan have yet to materialize. The causes for inaction are diverse - but the bottom line is that there is a lingering hope that Congress will overcome a series of hurdles to generate a meaningful infrastructure plan that will be supported by the White House. Because there is hope, however slim, of adopting an infrastructure plan - we are moving forward with our Board-approved Rebuilding America initiative. This initiative - as we discussed in an Oral Report to the full Board last month - clearly lays out substantial policy goals that we believe should guide any new federal efforts to bolster mobility across America.
On a brighter note - Congress does appear to be moving forward with plans to replace the FAST Act - the surface transportation authorization bill adopted by Congress and signed into law on December 4, 2015. Likewise, our agency is offering our Rebuilding America initiative as a template to strengthen the next surface transportation authorization bill - which may be voted on in Congr...
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