The Rest of the 113th Congress and H.R. 4727
Congress is set to return to work from the August recess on September 8th for roughly three weeks. After those three weeks Congress will recess until after the 2014 elections. After the elections, Congress will likely return to what is called a lame-duck session in November for possible consideration of major legislative initiatives. During the lame-duck session, Congress might consider tackling tax extenders, the 12 annual spending bills, or chartering the export-import bank.
So what does this all mean for H.R. 4727? As you aware, prior to departing for the August recess, Congress passed H.R. 5021, which provides funding for the highway trust fund until May 2015. Essentially, H.R. 5021 eliminated any chance that Congress would introduce and pass a multi-year transportation reauthorization bill in the 113th Congress. As the main vehicle for moving H.R. 4727, the multi-year transportation reauthorization bill will need to be addressed early in the 114th Congress, which convenes on January 3, 2015.
Having more time to garner additional support from Members of Congress and other industry stakeholders and refine the legislative language of H.R. 4727, is not necessarily a bad situation to be in. Legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden, once stated:
“If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?”
This quote particularly resonates when thinking about H.R. 4727. TIA staff and members continue to reach out to interested parties and Members of Congress in order to make H.R. 4727 the best possible legislative initiative it can be. The reality is that once Congress passes a multi-year bill, this will possibly be the last chance we have for inclusion of H.R. 4727 for many years. Can your business continue to play Russian roulette on selecting carriers for an additional six, seven or ten years? We will do whatever is in our power to eliminate this risk for your company.
Now, the unfortunate part of the conversation of working with Congress, your political action committee contributions to the TIAPAC assist TIA in a huge way. To put it in to perspective, our likely biggest opponent on H.R. 4727 will be the trial attorneys. In 2014, their Association has raised over $3 million in contributions and has donated $1.4 million to Congressional campaigns. Obviously, trial attorneys are a huge player not only on Capitol Hill, but in all sectors of American society. TIAPAC needs your help, we desperately need one member from each member company to send at minimum $100 to the TIAPAC. If you have ever had to turn down a carrier, or reject a shipper's contract based on unproven SMS or CSA data, you will want this bill to pass. To make your online contribution, please click HERE.
If you have given this year, thank you so much for your support of the TIAPAC. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Chris Burroughs (burroughs@tianet.org, 703.299.5705).
**Federal Election Commission laws state that an individual may contribute up to $5,000 per calendar year. Corporate contributions are strictly prohibited. Political Action Committees may not accept contributions from non-U.S. Citizens. All donations are not tax deductible.
