Pelosi Links Trade Pact To HTF Bill; Lobbyists Say It’s Unrealistic

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had hoped to hold a vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill this week but the legislation, along with the reconciliation bill, may now be taken up next week.

DALLAS -- House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has linked Democratic support for a controversial trade agreement to Republican agreement on a multiyear transportation bill, but some lobbyists don't think that's realistic.

House Democrats joined with Republicans to kill the President Obama's Trans-Pacific Partnership trade authority proposal, which would have provided assistance to workers displaced by revised trade agreements. The measure failed by a vote of 126 in favor and 302 opposed on June 12, with only 40 of the 188 House Democrats backing the president along with 86 of the 247 Republicans.

In a letter to Obama after the vote, Pelosi said, "The overwhelming vote is a clear indication that it's time for Republicans to sit down with Democrats to negotiate a trade promotion authority bill that is a better deal for the American people. The prospects for passage of such a bill will greatly increase with the passage of a robust highway bill."

But a transportation lobbyist who declined to be identified said Pelosi's linkage is unlikely to change any votes on either bill.

"There's no connection between the trade bill and the highway bill, and I don't see a way forward on trade," he said. "A highway bill depends on revenue, and that's going to be the hard part."

The Senate has passed the president's trade package, which includes the worker assistance program as well as trade promotion authority. The Senate bill contained a fast-track provision that did not allow the Senate to amend the trade deal proposed by the president before voting on it.

"Why are we fast-tracking trade and slow-walking the highway bill?" Pelosi said in a House floor speech against the trade bill.

House rules required a separate vote on three aspects of the trade bill. The House endorsed the bill's fast track provision, 219-211, after rejecting the worker assistance program. But the entire trade package cannot be considered until the assistance portion is passed.

Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., chair of the House Ways and Means Committee who is leading the Republican effort to pass H.R. 1314, the comprehensive trade package, said the House could vote again on the trade proposal as early as Tuesday.

"America is being watched by the rest of world," Ryan said. "The President has some work yet to do with his party to complete this process."

Ryan has proposed an amendment to Obama's trade bills stipulating their passage does not "require changes to U.S. law or obligate the United States with respect to global warming or climate change."

Ryan's amendment is the reason she opposes the trade bill, Pelosi said in a floor speech advocating a 'no' vote. House Democrats also oppose the no-amendment provision in the fast-track trade pact, she said.

"I hold myself second to none in this body in protecting the environment and recognizing the challenges of the climate crisis," Pelosi said.

Meanwhile, the HWM committee will hold a hearing Wednesday morning to consider new revenue options for the anemic federal Highway Trust Fund. The panel's session will be followed by a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Thursday that also will examine revenue options for federal transportation funding.

However, the tax-writing committees in the two chambers seem far apart on this issue. Ryan and House Republican leaders want to get the $100 billion or so needed to fully fund a six-year surface transportation bill from comprehensive corporate tax reform.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, is considering a variety of potential revenue sources, including pension smoothing and increased tax compliance efforts, but said tax reform is not the answer.

"I'm interested in [tax reform], but not for the highway bill," Hatch said. "We will do whatever we have to for the highway bill."

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