[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 165 (Thursday, November 5, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1610-E1611]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      HIRE MORE HEROES ACT OF 2015

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. DANIEL LIPINSKI

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 4, 2015

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 22) to amend 
     the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exempt employees with 
     health coverage under TRICARE or the Veterans Administration 
     from being taken into account for purposes of determining the 
     employers to which the employer mandate applies under the 
     Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act:


[[Page E1611]]


  

  Mr. LIPINSKI. Mr. Chair, I would like to thank the Chairman and 
Ranking Member for accepting two of my amendments in the en bloc 
amendment to the Senate Amendment to H.R. 22, including an amendment 
exempting a narrow class of welders from the Federal Motor Carrier 
Safety Regulations.
  The amendment at hand is a bipartisan, compromise effort that 
clarifies that transit agencies starting New Starts projects can 
utilize Federal funds, like CMAQ and TIFIA, to match the 50% funding 
provided by their New Start grant. I appreciate the Chairman's 
willingness to work with me on this issue and restore the Core Capacity 
and Small Starts projects Federal match limit back to 80% and allowing 
local agencies to flex other Federal funds to these projects.
  Without these funds, local flexibility would be greatly diminished 
and agencies would be forced to scrounge for funds locally, delaying 
many, many projects, including Chicago's Red & Purple Line 
Modernization. Still, this is a compromise amendment and this bill 
still restricts the use of STP funds for the remainder of the match and 
codifies the New Starts grant amount at 50%, both at the request of the 
majority, and I strongly disagree with this and hope we can work on 
this in conference. In support of my amendment, I submit letters of 
support for this amendment from the Chicago Transit Authority, the 
Regional Transportation Authority, and the American Public 
Transportation Association.

                                    Chicago Transit Authority,

                              Chicago, Illinois, November 3, 2015.
     Hon. Daniel Lipinski,
     House of Representatives, Washington, DC .
       Dear Congressman Lipinski: I am writing to you in support 
     of the Lipinski-Nadler-Dold Amendment (#110) to Section 3005 
     of H.R. 3763, the Surface Transportation Reauthorization and 
     Reform Act of 2015. This amendment would strike provisions in 
     the bill that prohibit certain U.S. Department of 
     Transportation (DOT) funding and financing from being paired 
     with Federal Transit Administration (FTA) 5309 Capital 
     Investment Grants to construct New Starts, Small Starts, and 
     Core Capacity Projects. Specifically, provisions in Section 
     3005 would limit the use of DOT funding from programs such as 
     Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ), Transportation 
     Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER), and the 
     Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act 
     (TIFIA) from being utilized on projects such as the CTA's 
     Red-Purple Modernization project or the Red Line Extension to 
     130th Street.
       For decades many transit agencies nationwide have been 
     pairing various DOT funding with FTA Capital Investment Grant 
     funding. This includes flexible funding from the CMAQ program 
     that is allocated at the regional level by the Metropolitan 
     Planning Organization (MPO). Here in Chicago the MPO--known 
     as the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP)--has a 
     yearly competitive process for CMAQ funding that is based on 
     cost-benefit analysis with regard to a decrease in traffic 
     congestion and an improvement in air quality. In 2015 the 
     CTA's Red-Purple Modernization Core Capacity project was 
     allocated $125 million in multi-year CMAQ funding, but H.R. 
     3763's provisions would jeopardize that funding from being 
     paired with future FTA funding. So in essence, the provision 
     as currently written takes away local control over federal 
     funding that was already allocated to the region.
       The CTA also has a history of successfully tapping low-cost 
     TIFIA loan financing for large projects such as the Your New 
     Blue Program on the CTA's Blue Line from downtown to O'Hare 
     and the 95th Street Red Line Terminal Improvement project. To 
     prohibit CTA from considering TIFIA financing for the 
     aforementioned Red-Purple Modernization Project and Red Line 
     Extension would take away an important and cost-effective 
     tool in the financing toolbox and would lead to higher 
     financing costs for these projects through traditional 
     methods.
       Thank you for offering this very important amendment during 
     Committee markup and for floor consideration. The CTA was 
     heartened to hear Chairman Shuster offer to work with you and 
     your colleagues during the Committee consideration of the 
     bill, and the CTA and likely many transit agencies around the 
     region and country will benefit from your efforts should your 
     amendment be adopted into the bill.
           Sincerely,
                                            Dorval R. Carter, Jr.,
     President.
                                  ____

                       American Public Transportation Association,


                             Washington, DC, November 3, 2015.

     Hon. Daniel Lipinski,
     House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
       Dear Congressman Lipinski: On behalf of the American Public 
     Transportation Association (APTA) and its more than 1,500 
     member organizations, we are writing in support of the 
     Lipinski, Nadler, Dold amendment #110 to the transportation 
     provisions of the House Surface Transportation 
     Reauthorization and Reform (STRR) Act, which would restore 
     the 80 percent federal share for core capacity and small 
     starts projects, as well as allow New Starts projects to 
     continue to use congestion mitigation and air quality 
     improvement program funds (CMAQ), transportation 
     infrastructure finance and innovation act (TIFIA) funds, and 
     Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery 
     (TIGER) grant funds as a part of the remaining Government 
     share.
       While we are disappointed that surface transportation 
     program (STP) funds continue to be restricted for new starts 
     projects only, we recognize that this amendment was 
     compromise language and improves the House bill. However, 
     notwithstanding our support of this compromise position to 
     improve the House bill, we will continue to advocate to 
     preserve the current 80 percent Federal share for New Starts 
     projects and the existing flexibility to use STP for the 
     government share as the final position in a future conference 
     between the House and the Senate.
       Thank you again for your leadership on this issue. We look 
     forward to continuing to work with you on restoring the 
     federal share to 80 percent federal share for new starts and 
     restoring STP flexibility to the new starts program as the 
     House bill moves to conference. If you have any questions, 
     please have your staff contact Brian Tynan of APTA's 
     Government Affairs Department.
           Sincerely,
                                             Michael P. Melaniphy,
     President & CEO.
                                  ____

                                                 November 4, 2015.
       The Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) system provides 
     more than two million rides per weekday. As the agency 
     responsible for fiscal oversight, as well as financial and 
     regional planning for public transit in Northeastern 
     Illinois, I am writing in strong support of amendment #110 to 
     Section 3005 of H.R. 3763, the Surface Transportation 
     Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2015. This amendment would 
     restore the 80 percent federal share for core capacity and 
     small starts projects, as well as allow New Starts projects 
     to continue to use congestion mitigation and air quality 
     improvement program funds (CMAQ), transportation 
     infrastructure finance and innovation act (TIFIA) funds, and 
     Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery 
     (TIGER) grant funds as a part of the remaining Government 
     share.
       Amendment #110 benefits all three of our region's 
     agencies--CTA, Metra and Pace--by allowing them to pair 
     Capital Investment Grant funds with others federal program 
     funds; a practice that has historically been allowed under 
     federal programs. An example of the importance of this 
     flexibility was seen when the CTA recently used a low-cost 
     TIFIA loan as part of the project matching funds to finance 
     the Your New Blue Program on the Blue Line from downtown to 
     O'Hare and the 95th Street Red Line Terminal Improvement 
     project. To prohibit the CTA from having the flexibility to 
     use TIFIA financing, CMAQ dollars or TIGER funding as part of 
     the local match for these projects would take away important 
     and cost-effective financing and funding tools which could 
     lead to higher costs if only left with other traditional 
     methods.
       In an era of scarce funding, the RTA and Service Boards try 
     to creatively pursue all options from state, federal, and 
     local sources for major projects. We appreciate Congress 
     allowing local entities maximum flexibility to continue to do 
     that. If you have any other questions or concerns, please 
     feel free to contact me.
           Sincerely,
                                                    Leanne Redden,
     Executive Director, Regional Transportation Authority.

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