CLEVELAND, July 24 — Vice President & National Legislative Representative John Tolman reports that House Committees approved three bills last week that impact the rail industry, including one of particular importance to workers who receive Railroad Retirement disability benefits.
The Transportation Committee approved H.R. 5483, the Railroad Retirement Disability Earnings Act. Current law limits the outside earnings of a railroad worker drawing disability benefits from the Railroad Retirement Board to a maximum of $400 per month and $4,800 per year. These limits have remained unchanged for more than a decade. The bill will nearly double the current fixed limits, raising the monthly limit to $700. If passed, the measure would become effective January 1, 2007, and would also create an indexing formula to provide for automatic increases in the future. The bill was approved by a voice vote.
Also on Wednesday, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved, by voice vote, H.R. 5808, the Public Transportation Security Assistance Act of 2006. The bill was introduced on July 17, 2006, by Rep. Don Young (R-AK). It is co-sponsored by Representatives Peter DeFazio (D-NY), James Oberstar (D-MN) and Thomas Petri (D-WI).
The legislation would authorize the Secretary of Transportation to make grants to public transportation agencies and over-the-road bus operators to improve security, and for other purposes. It would authorize about $3.4 billion in grants through fiscal 2009 to public transportation agencies for capital and operational security improvements, as well as an additional $150 million in grants specifically to safeguard buses.
It would direct $3 million through 2009 to the Information Sharing and Analysis Center for Public Transportation and would require public transportation agencies that federal Transportation Department officials deem at “significant risk of a terrorist attack” to furnish the center with information.
Representative Petri introduced an amendment – that was also approved by voice vote – to give priority grants to systems on the basis of risk.
The House Homeland Security Committee also approved a bill reauthorizing the Homeland Security Department, H.R. 5814. The bill included language aimed at boosting rail security and also included a grants program for rail and transit security. The grants program would be administered on the basis of risk and need.
If passed, these bills would hopefully close some of the security gaps that remain in our nation’s public transportation and railroad system, according to Vice President Tolman.
Vice President John Tolman asks that BLET members contact their members of Congress and urge them to support these pieces of legislation.