The Art of Compromise
A casual viewer at last week's hearing in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee would have thought Chairwoman Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and ranking member James Inhofe, R-Okla., were superheroes for achieving a deal on a surface-transportation bill. "The fact that this committee was able to reach agreement on a bipartisan basis is nothing short of miraculous," said Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark. By contrast, House Republicans and Democrats are at loggerheads over a six-year, $230 billion surface-transportation bill.
The Senate outline, yet to be drafted into actual legislation, is the product of compromise. It doesn't please anyone completely, but it's considered better than the alternative of a six-month or one-year stopgap. Because of funding shortages, Boxer and Inhofe had to sacrifice their goal of a six-year bill, settling for a two-year reauthorization. After much back and forth, they also have agreed on language to streamline red tape for transportation projects. Their framework also adds new reporting requirements that will put state transportation departments on the spot to make sure they're meeting deadlines. Funding for bicycle paths and other alternative-transportation forms have been retained in the bill, but with new flexibility that won Inhofe's approval.
How will the Boxer and Inhofe framework impact the conversation about a new surface-transportation bill? How important is it that they compromised? Is a two-year bill a reasonable solution to the budget shortfalls? Or (to borrow a phrase from debt-ceiling talks) are they simply kicking the can down the road? Will the smaller components of the agreement--for example, on bicycle paths and project acceleration--help motivate the larger process of reauthorizing surface-transportation programs.
July 28, 2011 11:57 AM
Transportation: A Bipartisan Model
By Laura Barrett
It’s clear we need a long-term transportation bill. But at a political moment when ideological zealotry has brought us to the brink of yet another crisis, Senator Boozman is right. The bipartisan cooperation on the Senate transportation bill is little short of a miracle. It’s a shame that our federal representatives can’t learn from the example of Senators Boxer and Inhofe when it comes to the debt ceiling debate. We all know the reasons why transportation has historically been an area of bipartisan compromise and cooperation. We all know that transportation investments are a powerful job creator and engine of economic growth—especially investments in public transit. We all know that transportation has the unique ability to unite groups as diverse as the Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO. We all know that SAFETEA-LU and other part transportation bills have been milestones of bipartisan cooperation. The grim deadlock over the debt ceiling might have seemed like the nail in the coffin for any kind of cross-party cooperation in Washington. But the Boxer-In...
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July 28, 2011 11:10 AM
What Congress Can and Should Do
By Robert L. Darbelnet
President and CEO, AAA
When it comes to providing inspiring results for leadership and teamwork, few can equal the impressive work of the late, legendary basketball coach at UCLA, John Wooden. Among my favorite of many Wooden quotes is “never let what you cannot accomplish get in the way of what you can.” I think the coach would commend Chairman Boxer and Senator Inhofe for their work in developing a transportation proposal with the intention of garnering bipartisan support in the Senate. At a time when compromise and collaboration have been viewed negatively, the historically bipartisan transportation legislation should be viewed as an opportunity to focus on what Congress can and should do.
While the gap between Chairman Mica’s plan (six years and funding cuts) and Chairman Boxer’s plan (two years and searching for added revenue) is stark, I am not giving up hope on a compromise. With the support of President Obama, this Congress can pass a bipartisan bill that is multi-year, reforms current programs, provides additional innovative financing methods, el...
When it comes to providing inspiring results for leadership and teamwork, few can equal the impressive work of the late, legendary basketball coach at UCLA, John Wooden. Among my favorite of many Wooden quotes is “never let what you cannot accomplish get in the way of what you can.” I think the coach would commend Chairman Boxer and Senator Inhofe for their work in developing a transportation proposal with the intention of garnering bipartisan support in the Senate. At a time when compromise and collaboration have been viewed negatively, the historically bipartisan transportation legislation should be viewed as an opportunity to focus on what Congress can and should do.
While the gap between Chairman Mica’s plan (six years and funding cuts) and Chairman Boxer’s plan (two years and searching for added revenue) is stark, I am not giving up hope on a compromise. With the support of President Obama, this Congress can pass a bipartisan bill that is multi-year, reforms current programs, provides additional innovative financing methods, eliminates earmarks and maintains our current level of transportation funding into the near term. AAA will continue educating our members on the importance of this outcome, urging them to contact their Members of Congress in order to restore transportation as a national priority.
As this long overdue effort unfolds, we are apt to hear that “the devil is in the details.” To be sure, when the legislative process is involved, this is always the case. But it’s troubling that we seem to have lost our way in terms of process - where the expectation that both parties come together to solve a national problem becomes an exception rather than the rule. If that’s the case, let’s follow the sage advice of Coach Wooden and work together to leverage this opportunity into a victory.
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