WRRDA Bill Passage Seen Likely Following Scheduled Vote Next Week
The House is set to vote on the H.R. 3080, the Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA), on Oct. 23 or Oct. 24, a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee official said. The House Rules Committee, chaired by Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, requested the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee file a report on the legislation for consideration on Oct. 21. The bill passed unanimously by voice vote out of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and bipartisan passage is likely, according to the committee official.
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The House bill (here) seeks to improve U.S. rivers and harbors for commercial and conservation purposes. It also aims to expand the use of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund. The Senate passed its version of the bill in strong bipartisan fashion in May, after it passed out of the Environment and Public Works Committee in March. The bill will produce 500,000 new jobs, according to Chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee Senator Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., in an Oct. 16 statement (here). “We want to get to conference on this critical job creating legislation as soon as possible so that we can reconcile the House and Senate versions and get it to the President's desk," said Boxer. The user fee tacked onto inland waterways commercial transportation should be increased as part of the bill in order to address the immediate need for waterway modernization, said the Waterways Council in a Sept. 24 letter that was endorsed by dozens of U.S. companies and associations (see 13092621).