Congress to Return on Reauthorization
… but no conferees for the *transportation reauthorization* House-Senate Conference Committee to work out differences have been appointed. Congress returns from its recess next week (week of April 19). The current short-term extension of TEA 21 expires at the end of April and will have to be extended. It appears that May is the month of focus for the conference.
*Transit Security* also on the table: APTA has asked that $2 billion for transit security ($1.2 billion for capital needs and $800 million for operating costs) be inserted in the FY 2005 transportation budget. Additionally, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the Railroad Carriers and Mass Transportation Protection Act of 2004 on April 8. This hearing focused on S. 2273, a bill that would establish various acts against railroads and transit systems as federal crimes that would qualify for terrorism charges.