Dear Representative:
The AFL-CIO supports the bi-partisan Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act (STRRA) reported by the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Chairman Shuster, Ranking Member DeFazio, and members of the Committee struck a delicate balance when writing the legislation.
The nation’s transportation infrastructure requires a significant amount of additional work. Passing a long-term bill will give state and local governments the funding certainty they need to move forward. As the House works its way through the amendment process, it is important to avoid provisions that detract from the bill’s goals. Some amendments would improve the bill, while others unfortunately jeopardize the balance that the committee achieved and threaten to unravel the broad coalition of support for enactment of the STRRA.
The AFL-CIO urges you to support transportation workers and to keep the focus on improving transportation policy by casting the following votes on these amendments:
- Oppose Newhouse Amendment #120. This amendment would alter the collective bargaining process for U.S. port workers. Through the use of misleading statistics, the amendment would lead to premature Presidential intervention into port labor disputes and reduce the incentive for employers to bargain in good faith as intended by federal labor law.
- Oppose Ex-Im Bank amendments. The Export Import Bank helps create and maintain thousands of U.S. jobs by financing the export of U.S. goods and services. We urge you to reject efforts that seek to weaken or eliminate it.
- Oppose Hensarling Amendment #86. This amendment would pre-empt state laws that regulate Small Business Investment Companies (SBIC), allowing emerging growth companies to game the calendar in order to omit financial disclosures, loosen registration requirements, and reduce investor protections. The amendment would also eliminate important privacy disclosures by mega-banks, allowing them to cease telling consumers when their information is being shared with other companies.
- Oppose King Amendment #1. This amendment would bar the use of funds to enforce Davis-Bacon Act prevailing wage requirements. The Davis-Bacon prevailing wage law ensures that workers on public construction projects funded by taxpayer dollars are paid a wage comparable to the local standard or "prevailing" wage. It prevents unscrupulous contractors from lowballing bids and undercutting community wages with cheap, unskilled labor.
- Oppose Denham Amendment #40. This amendment would preempt states from regulating meal and rest breaks for commercial drivers in more than 21 states, and would overturn 22 years of court decisions. It also contains a provision to reduce drivers’ pay by repealing statutes that require them to be compensated for work performed outside of driving.
- Oppose Reichert #155. The Reichert amendment would mandate a General Accounting Office (GAO) study to evaluate the effectiveness of labor negotiations at U.S. ports. The transportation bill should not be used as a pretext to amend federal labor law, and would duplicate a GAO study already underway.
The AFL-CIO urges you to maintain the bi-partisan balance struck in crafting the Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act (STRRA).
Sincerely,
William Samuel, Director
Government Affairs Department