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Transportation Bill In Conference Key Disability Programs At Stake
June 16, 2004

Action Needed

The House of Representatives and the Senate have appointed conferees and are beginning work on the transportation reauthorization bills. The Conference Committee is scheduled to meet again June 23rd. CCD has been asked by the House staff to send letters to the conferees in support of the stronger House provisions. We are asking that all CCD organizations send a letter to the conferees THIS WEEK.

Both the House and Senate have passed six year transportation reauthorization bills which contain provisions important to people with disabilities.

The House makes the New Freedom Initiative (NFI) program a separate and distinct program with greater flexibility. NFI funds can be used for integrated programs, i.e., directed at improving accessibility but available for use by all transit users. The House committee report makes it clear that accessible taxi service, accessibility in non-key stations, vouchers, volunteer driver and transportation management programs are considered eligible uses for this funding. These are the types of activities that can make a real improvement in services to people with disabilities in small urban and rural areas. Additionally, the House bill enables Section 5310 funds to be used for operating assistance, e.g., management and transportation planning rather than simply for purchasing vehicles.

The House bill also contains additional funding for Project ACTION reauthorization. Project ACTION is a federally funded program, operated by Easter Seals, working to expand accessible transportation. The Senate bill does not authorize increased spending on this vital program while the House raises the authorized funding level from $3 million to $3.5 million. CCD supports the increased resources that would be available under the House version.

The Senate does not establish a New Freedom Initiative section, but simply adds the term New Freedom to the existing Section 5310 program. The Section 5310 program is intended to meet the special needs of the elderly and people with disabilities, and funding is used primarily to purchase vehicles for programs like Head Start, Offices on Aging, and disability provider organizations. Many disability organizations purchase vehicles using Section 5310 funding. CCD support increased funding in the Senate bill for Section 5310, but oppose doing that by combining the New Freedom Initiative with the program. Combining NFI with Section 5310 would not provide the types of options that would be available in the House approach of creating a separate New Freedom program. The Senate bill also makes public transit agencies eligible for Section 5310 money and we are concerned that this could easily displace the non-profits that now benefit from it.

It is expected to be a difficult conference due to large differences in the bills, especially the funding levels. Both bills exceed the maximum funding limit set by the White House, $256 billion over six years, so conferees must put together a bill that minimally satisfies both the Senate and the House and that the President will sign. The Senate bill authorized $318 billion over six years and the House bill authorized $284 billion. During negotiations with the Republican leadership, the White House did propose $275 billion as a compromise but has since backtracked on that offer.

SENATE CONFEREES

Conference Chair James Inhofe (R-OK)
Majority Whip Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Trent Lott (R-MS)
Christopher S. Bond (R-MO)
John Warner (R-VA)
George Voinovich (R-OH)
James M. Jeffords (I-VT)
Charles E. Grassley (R-IA)
Orrin Hatch (R-UT)
Don Nickles (R-OK)
John McCain (R-AZ)
Richard C. Shelby (R-AL)

Minority Whip Harry Reid (D-NV)
Bob Graham (D-FL)
Joseph Lieberman (D-CT)
Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
Max Baucus (D-MT)
Kent Conrad (D-ND)
Ernest Hollings (D-SC)
Paul Sarbanes (D-MD)

TARGETED HOUSE CONFEREES

Conference Vice-Chair, Don Young (R-AK)
Thomas Petri (R-WI)
Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY)
Howard Coble (R-NC)
John Duncan, Jr. (R-TN)
John Mica (R-FL)
Peter Hoekstra (R-MI)
Vernon Ehlers (R-MI)
Spencer Bachus (R-AL)
Steven LaTourette (R-OH)
Gary Miller (R-CA)
Bob Beauprez (R-CO)
Dennis Rehberg (R-MT)
Rep Tom DeLay (R-TX)

James Oberstar (D-MN)
Nick J. Rahall (D-WV)
William Lipinski (D-IL)
Peter DeFazio (D-OR)
Jerry Costello (D-IL)
Jerrold Nadler (D-NY)
Robert Menendez (D-NJ)
Corrine Brown (D-FL)
Bob Filner (D-CA)
Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX)
Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC)

Sample letter:

Dear Conferee

As you work to resolve the differences in the House and Senate transportation reauthorization bills, I urge you to support the stronger disability provisions contained in H.R. 3550 (TEA-LU). People with disabilities may be limited in their mobility due to physical, sensory, or cognitive disabilities, and as a rule are far more reliant on public transportation than the general public. It is critical that transportation legislation ensure that people with disabilities have safe, affordable and accessible transportation to fully participate in community life.

H.R. 3550 creates the New Freedom Initiative as a separate program with flexibility to fund activities such as improving accessibility in non-key stations and services such as accessible taxi services, vouchers, volunteer drivers among other programs to improve the local transportation options. This structure is preferable to the Senate provision, which combines the New Freedom Initiative with Section 5310 and makes public transit agencies eligible for funds. While I support the increased funding for Section 5310 in the Senate bill, the House language on how the New Freedom Initiative is structured will provide more options for people with disabilities. I also support the provision in the House bill that will allow Section 5310 funds to be used for operating assistance.

The House bill also contains additional funds for Project ACTION. Project ACTION, a federally funded program working to expand accessible transportation, is also authorized under TEA-21. The Senate bill does not authorize increased spending on this vital program while the House raises the authorized funding level from $3 million to $3.5 million. I support the increased resources that would be available under the House bill.

This is an opportunity to make significant improvements in transportation policy affecting people with disabilities and we need your assistance. I urge you to support the New Freedom Initiative and Project ACTION as written in the House bill. Thank you for your consideration of my request.

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