Senate measure includes RESTORE Act, which would target 80 percent of Clean Water Act fines for the 2010 BP spill to the five Gulf States
Washington -- This week, House Republicans are going to make some news. Speaker John Boehner is expected to announce whether the House will take up the recently passed Senate transportation bill, or something similar, or go in a significantly different direction. The speaker said he was considering the Senate bill because he's been unable to build a majority for the original House GOP transportation bill.
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House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio talks to reporters about jobs, the highway bill, and politics during a new conference on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 8. Boehner is expected to announce this week if he will push for passage of the transportation bill passed by the Senate earlier this month.But some conservative Republicans are urging him to stand firm and stick with key provisions in the original House bill, especially a measure to open up vast new areas, both inland and offshore, to oil and gas development.
The issue is important to Louisiana because the Senate version included the RESTORE Act, which would target 80 percent of Clean Water Act fines for the 2010 BP spill to the five Gulf States.
An earlier House version also included key provisions of the RESTORE Act. But that bill has no prospects of passing the Senate.
Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans, joined Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., in asking the House to pass the Senate bill.
"I urge my colleagues in the House to support this bipartisan bill which would help the Gulf Coast recover from the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history," Richmond said.
Richmond added: "Sending the bipartisan Senate transportation bill to the president's desk will ensure that critical transportation projects are no longer delayed and desperately needed funds are allocated before the current highway program expires at the end of the month."
Also this week, the House Budget Committee Chairman, Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., is expected to unveil a GOP budget that calls for more cuts in discretionary spending than agreed to last year by President Barack Obama and Congress, while canceling automatic defense department cuts scheduled to take place if Congress and the administration can't agree on a deficit reduction plan.
"The Speaker and (Armed Services Committee Chairman (Buck) McKeon (R-Calif.) are working towards a shared goal: ensuring that we have $1.2 trillion in additional deficit reduction, but doing it in a way that does not 'hollow out' our Armed Forces or jeopardize our national security," said Boehner spokesman Michael Steel.
The Senate this week is continuing debate on a House-passed measure designed to increase job creation by improving access to public capital markets by emerging growth companies.
Landrieu is among a group of Senate Democrats urging the Senate to pass a substitute measure she says will be far more effective in helping small businesses. It would allow small businesses and entrepreneurs to raise capital in a way that protects investors, provides financing so businesses can expand and hire more workers, and encourages U.S. companies to export and compete in a global marketplace, Landrieu said.
"We are not trying to say no to everything that is in the House bill because there are some good ideas that have come from some of the brightest entrepreneurs in our country," Landrieu said. "We're trying to say yes to those ideas but do it in a way that protects investors and helps small businesses raise much-needed capital."
Also this week, Speaker Boehner is hosting President Barack Obama Vice President Joe Biden and Republican and Democratic congressional leaders for the annual luncheon for the Irish Prime Minister, Enda Kenny.