House to Vote on Rep. Lois Frankel's CSA Scores Amendment in Highway Bill
House lawmakers on Nov. 4 will vote to decide whether the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s safety performance-rating scores for motor carriers should remain available to the public while the program is reviewed.
A proposal by Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.) to the House’s consideration of a multiyear highway reauthorization bill would keep the agency’s Compliance, Safety, Accountability program’s scores publicly available while it is reviewed by the National Research Council of the National Academies.
Under the House’s highway bill, the agency would be required to make “corrective actions” to CSA, which includes a lengthy review. The bill would require certain CSA scores to be removed from public view during such a review.
LIVESTREAM: Watch House debate via c-span.org
CSA has been the focus of intense criticism on the part of most of the trucking sector, which has argued the scores fail to provide an accurate picture of a motor carrier’s safety assessment. CSA proponents defend the program’s data.
Frankel’s amendment is among 81 the Rules Committee in the House cleared for floor action. Members are being asked to consider them during the legislation’s time on the floor. The bill’s sponsors expressed optimism about concluding votes on amendments and voting on final passage as early as Nov. 5.
Other amendments on the floor include one sponsored by Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) that would remove language in the bill that would set up a new procedural criteria for an FMCSA study on minimum trucking insurance already under way. Also, an amendment by Rep. John Duncan (R-Tenn.) would clarify that motor carriers that have not been prioritized for a compliance review by FMCSA because of their safe operations are equal in safety status to “satisfactory”-rated carriers.
An amendment not making it to the floor was offered by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) that would have raised the gas tax to pay for infrastructure projects. "Congress should have the opportunity to show the courage and vision to do what Ronald Reagan did in 1982 and what seven Republican states have already done this year — raise the gas tax to provide stable and meaningful funding for transportation," said Blumenauer.
During a meeting of the Rules Committee on Nov. 3 to determine which amendments to greenlight, committee Chairman Pete Sessions (R-Texas) said figuring out a long-term funding plan for highways has been a “conundrum” for lawmakers.
