Congressman Moran's News Commentary

The House is set to take up the surface transportation reauthorization bill this week. Nicknamed TEA-LU in honor of Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Don Young's wife Lula, the "Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users" (H.R. 3) looks to be headed for passage in both chambers after disputes with the White House over the total funding level have stalled it for the past few years. The House bill would provide $284 billion in federal highway, transit and road safety projects, with $225 billion of that going to the Federal Highway Administration.

While I would have like to see a higher funding allotment, I support this bill which will help pay for vital infrastructure improvements in our nation's highways, byways, bridges and overpasses. This transportation bill reauthorizes federal transportation programs for the next six years.

I was pleased to have been able to obtain funding in the bill for a number of projects benefiting public transportation in Northern Virginia. In Falls Church specifically, $2 million was included at my request to help pay for the new Intermodal Transportation Station planned for construction by the Falls Church City Council. The transportation hub will be located in the City's downtown commercial district and will provide Falls Church public transit users convenient access to transfer facilities for Metrobus, the George bus system and shuttles to both National and Dulles airports.

An issue that I will attempt to highlight using the transportation bill is the problem we have in Northern Virginia with rogue towing operators. I reintroduced legislation this week that would return authority to regulate the towing industry that was stripped from state and local governments by Congress in the early 90's at the behest of the towing lobby. We have situations in which local and state governments are virtually powerless to stop towing operators from harming the consumer. In a recent case in California, local police were unable to charge a tow truck operator for towing a woman's car with her baby still inside. Actions such as these, by a few bad apples, continue to mar the reputation of an otherwise respectable industry. There appears to be an opportunity to use the amendment process to tack some pro-consumer towing changes onto the transportation bill. I am conferring with colleagues on both sides of the aisle who have an interest in the issue to employ the most effective strategy.

On a related topic, for those interested in transportation issues and more specifically Metro, I want to make you aware of the town hall meeting I am holding on Monday, March 14th. Metro General Manager and CEO, Richard White, will be the featured guest speaker at this forum to discuss the future of Metro and explore ways to make the system accessible and efficient for the hundreds of thousands of riders in the region. Metro is crucial to the economic success of Northern Virginia and I am looking forward to hear from local residents on the issue.

Rep. James P. Moran is Virginia's 8th Congressional District Representative in the U.S. House of Representatives.