Published 31 Jan, 2012
With both chambers back from holiday recess and President Obama’s goals laid out in the State of the Union, lawmakers are back to business with a vengeance this week. Two extremely important bills will see final negotiations this week, as the FAA Authorizations conference committee meets to hash out the differences between the House- and Senate-passed versions of the bill, as well as the conferees for the Payroll Tax and Unemployment Insurance extensions. Both the House and Senate Budget Committees will host hearings on the budget and economic outlook, and the House body will also discuss “the state of the US economy.”
Several sessions are scheduled to mark up the transit bill, which also pertains to rail, highway spending, hazmat, maritime, and energy issues. The House T&I Committee will go over their 5-year bill, which hasn’t been released in its entirety yet; the Senate Banking committee will mark up their relevant pieces of the Senates’ 2-year version of the proposal. Tentative meetings are planned in two other committees that deal with the legislation, if time and logistics allow.