LEGISLATIVE REPORT
CAN WE “BUILD BACK BETTER”? A look at legislative possibilities for the 117th Congress.
T
he insurrectionist rioters who tore through the United States Capitol wiped out most other news on Jan. 6, 2021. That day of lives lost, pain and desecration stained our nation’s history. Underneath this disgrace, Jan. 6 also confirmed the Democratic win of both special U.S. Senate runoff races in Georgia the previous day. This outcome, not conventionally anticipated right after the Nov. 3 general election, gave Democrats the slimmest of majorities in the U.S. Senate on Jan. 20 with Vice President Kamala Harris as the tie-breaker of a 50-50 chamber, adding to their control of the House of
34 Railway Age // February 2021
Representatives and the White House. Democratic leadership of the Senate reorders legislative possibilities for the 117th Congress, starting with a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill President Biden sent to Congress that would allocate $20 billion for public transportation. Beyond the COVID-19 bill, transit authorities, passenger railroads and other transport modes seek billions in additional funds. Short lines intend to build on the 45G infrastructure tax credit permanency achieved last year with equitable inclusion in any new infrastructure investment measure (see American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association President Chuck Baker’s commentary in this
issue, p. 56). Class I railroads will advance their policy priorities, as outlined by Association of American Railroads President Ian Jefferies before Congress in late 2020: maintaining the existing balanced regulatory structure; fostering innovative technologies; and ensuring that the marketplace, not government, picks winners and losers among transportation modes. Eno Center for Transportation expert Jeff Davis and other Beltway analysts quickly assessed new legislative prospects, such as potential use of the budget reconciliation process (which does not require the 60 Senate votes that most measures typically need to pass) to boost infrastructure funding. Yet railwayage.com
Gage Skidmore
BY DON ITZKOFF, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
