A strong panel of congressional staffers presented an update on Capitol Hill activity at a March 12 session during the APTA Legislative Conference in Washington. Their conversation took place in the same week that the Senate passed a transportation authorization.

Homer Carlisle, majority professional staff member for the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, said: “The message of public transportation is great for members going home and campaigning. When they come back, they are looking to invest and improve the economy.”

Shannon Hines, who works for the minority staff of the same Senate committee, said she was excited about the bill the Senate was considering. She called the legislation “a truly bipartisan bill that has good parts; it makes changes and—while change is hard—it is needed.”

Jim Tymon, majority staff director for the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, reported on the status of the House version of surface transportation authorization, which at the time was stuck between committee and the floor with many unsure how it will progress. The bill—with a title that would have eliminated the Mass Transit Account of the Highway Trust Fund and instituted an Alternative Transit Account—faced a lack of support from Democrats and moderate Republicans.

Meanwhile, T&I minority professional staff member Helena Zyblikewycz offered a different view of the bill. “It is dismaying [that] part of this process has been getting to 218 [votes] in the House when 198 Democrats have not been included,” she said. “A partisan bill was created without consultation and introduced three days before markup.”

While there was a difference of opinion among the panelists, the discussion was deep and covered a wide swath, allowing APTA members direct discourse with the professional staff working on the bills daily.

Photo by Todd Parola Panelists at the “View from the Hill” session include, from left, Helena Zyblikewycz, Jim Tymon, Shannon Hines, Homer Carlisle, and moderator Richard Bacigalupo.