2012 Legislative Updates
2012
Congressmen Introduce Legislation Calling for Hair Testing Pilot Program
Congressmen Ribble (R-WI) and Fleischmann (R-TN) introduced a bill, HR 6641, directing the DOT Secretary to establish a pilot program to investigate the benefits and feasibility of using hair specimens for CMV driver testing. A 2007 GAO investigation indicated that there are a number of fraud challenges with the current system. Because the 112th Congress ends at the end of this year, the bill will have to be reintroduced in the next Congress, should the Congressmen wish to pursue the pilot program.
2012
2012 Elections and Lame Duck
The 2012 elections are done and we are starting to get an idea of what the 113th Congress will look like. The Democrats will maintain control of the Senate, while the Republicans hold onto their majority in the House. Democrats did pick up a few seats in each chamber, so there could be some realignment on the committees in terms of how many seats each party gets.
In the Senate, there will be a lot of turnover and shifting due to term limits on committees and departing Senators. Of particular interest, Senator Rockefeller (WV) will retain Chairmanship of the Commerce Committee, but Senator DeMint (SC) will take over as Ranking Member, as Senator Hutchison of Texas is retiring. On the Environment and Public Works Committee, Ranking Member Inhofe (OK) is being replaced by Senator Vitter (LA), which Senator Boxer (CA) will remain the Chairman. There will likely be some shifting on the Appropriations Committee too, but that shouldn’t have a major impact in terms of CMV issues.
On the House side, Chairman Mica (FL) has reached his term limit on the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee and so will likely have to yield the gavel. He is going to seek a waiver, but most think it’s unlikely to be approved. Congressman Shuster, of Pennsylvania, is expected to replace him. He is well versed in CMV issues and has a particular interest in safety. There will be some shifting on the House Appropriations Committee too, but, like the Senate side, that shouldn’t have a major impact.
Congress will be consumed by the nation’s financial situation for the next several weeks, as they seek to avoid the ‘fiscal cliff’ and reach a deal on the budget. It’s unclear, at this point, how all this will shake out for the FMCSA budget. In the 113th Congress, there are several items that will take precedence over the next highway bill, such as the Water Resources bill, but it’s likely that work will begin in 2013, to some degree. It’s possible that there will be hearings on various topics. CVSA plans to meet with relevant offices and staff in December in order to get a firm grasp on their plans for the coming year.
2012
Congress Passes Temporary Funding Measure for FY 2013
Congress has adjourned for the fall election season. Before leaving DC, though, Congress approved the 6-month continuing resolution for the first half of FY2013. The bill sets funding at FY2012 levels, so it does not incorporate the slightly higher funding levels authorized in the recently passed transportation bill, MAP21. Several advocacy groups, along with transportation-minded Members of Congress, had pushed to get the funding increased to MAP21 levels, but were not successful. It is possible that Congress could include the additional funds when they return following the elections to address several fiscal issues in the lame duck session. If successful, the second half of FY2013 would include the extra funding.
2012
Summary of MAP21
As indicated last week, Congress has passed a transportation bill. The bill, dubbed ‘Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP21), is a fully funded, 27 month bill – running through the end of FY 2014. Congress was also forced to pass another short extension of existing programs (1-week) to allow time for printing and finalizing the bill for the President’s signature later this week. This final extension was merely a technical maneuver and has no substantive policy impacts.
Click here for a section-by-section summary of the relevant portions of the bill. In general, the bill makes significant changes to federal commercial motor vehicle safety policy. The bill creates additional motor carrier registration requirements and works to establish ownership successor standards, to help combat reincarnated/chameleon carriers. The bill also includes many changes to motorcoach safety regulations and directs DOT to conduct a number of studies and rulemakings to improve motorcoach safety.
The bill makes minor changes to the existing MCSAP grant program and authorizes funds for the length of the bill. Funding levels are kept steady, with a slight increase for the New Entrant Grant program. In addition, the MOE requirement for the Border Enforcement Grant program was removed. As we indicated last week, overall MOE was also adjusted, set on a static two-year period – 2004 & 2005 – and providing for exemptions for certain expenditures and waivers for states in some instances.
MAP21 contains several sections aimed at improving data collection and sharing. The bill also strengthens efforts to harmonize standards between the US and Canada. Finally, the bill calls for a study of size and weight policy, including a catalogue of existing exemptions.
2012
CONGRESS PASSES MAP-21 – TRANSPORTATION AUTHORIZATION
Earlier today, the House and Senate passed the highway bill – dubbed MAP21! The bill now heads to the President’s desk for signature. It is a 27 month bill, running through the end of FY 2014. We are still reviewing the language and hope to have a summary to you shortly. However, we can say that a number of our priorities survived the deliberations.
- MCSAP grant programs remain largely unchanged and funding is essentially steady for FYs 2013 & 2014.
- The bill includes both a size and weight study and a study of exemptions from safety regulations, both CVSA requests.
- Language targeting reincarnated carriers was also included, which will help FMCSA better target these problematic entities.
- An industry-wide mandate for EOBRs (renamed electronic logging devices) was included, despite a HEAVY push from opponents, including OOIDA. The language includes a number of CVSA’s requests.
- Requirements advancing US/Canadian reciprocity were included.
- Several provisions improving motorcoach safety supported by CVSA were also included.
Unfortunately, the bill’s not all positive. There were a number of exemptions included in the bill, although several others did not survive. The Senate language providing additional flexibility for en route inspections of passenger carrier vehicles was removed. Improvements to the MCSAP grant programs were removed as well.
Our work is certainly not done, but we’ve made some real progress in this bill and have a strong foundation to build on as we move forward. We’ll provide a more comprehensive summary ASAP and are available to answer any questions you may have.
HOUSE TRANSPORTATION APPROPRIATIONS
In addition to passing the transportation bill, the House also voted on and approved the transportation appropriations (THUD) bill this afternoon. Funding levels and details can be found here, in the June 22 update. The only additional change made was an amendment that effectively cuts off funding for the EOBR rulemaking at FMCSA. CVSA will work with like minded organizations and Members to see that this provision is removed when the House and Senate conference the THUD appropriations bill.
2012
Deadline Approaches for Transportation Conferees
As the June 30th deadline approaches House and Senate Conferees and their staff are diligently working to complete the surface transportation reauthorization. Negotiations hit a snag earlier this month and it appeared briefly that the process had stalled completely. House and Senate leaders spent a week or so playing the blame game and talks turned towards a long term extension. However, discussions this week have been much more productive and a tentative agreement between Boxer and Mica on the highway portion of the bill was announced, though no details were given.
Staff will work through the weekend converting that agreement into legislative language, while discussion turns to other portions of the bill, including the FMCSA safety title, transit and the critical funding piece. House and Senate leaders have indicated that once all the transportation pieces have been resolved, leadership will step in to reconcile the controversial issues, such as the coal ash and Keystone Pipeline provisions. Recently, Members and staff have been very tight lipped about the details of the negotiations, which may bode well for the bill, as it could be a sign that both sides want to get a bill completed and are staying out of the media for the time being.
Regardless of the progress made over the weekend, some extension is likely going to be necessary in order to complete a bill. Once all the issues are resolved, staff will still need to draft final language for review, which is a time consuming process. Then the bill will need to move through both the House and Senate for votes. With only a few legislative days left, and most of the major issues still unresolved as of Friday afternoon, completion by next Saturday seems highly unlikely.
House Committee Approves FY2013 Transportation Measure
Earlier this week, the House Appropriations Committee approved its FY2013 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill. The bill keeps FMCSA funding levels set at the FY2012 amounts, totaling $307 million. The bill has drawn a veto threat from the White House, which argues that the funding levels are too low and would cost jobs.
- MCSAP - $212,000,000
- General MCSAP - $168,000,000
- New Entrant - $29,000,000
- High Priority - $15,000,000
- CDL - $30,000,000
- Border - $32,000,000
- PRISM - $5,000,000
- CVISN - $25,000,000
- Safety Data - $3,000,000
In addition to the $308 million, the committee provides $16,000,000 for “border facility improvements and information technology modernization efforts for FMCSA operations and programs.”
The bill also contains a vehicle weight exemption for a portion of Highway 41 in Wisconsin, which will soon be re-designated as interstate lane miles. The exemption grandfathers in any vehicles currently operating over the federal limit when the change takes place. As a compromise to the exemption, which saw opposition, the Committee agreed to include the Size & Weight study language from S.1813 in the appropriation measure.
2012
House and Senate Prepare for Conference
Last week, the House and Senate agreed to go to conference on their respective transportation bills – S 1813, which passed the Senate in March, and HR 4348, a 90-day extension of the current program, along with a handful of other policy provisions, including the Keystone pipeline language as well as environmental streamlining language, which passed in April.
House leaders are using the extension as a ‘shell’ bill in order to have something germane to conference with S 1813. The path forward here is unclear, however. Typically, the House and Senate pass bills that are similar in length and scope. This time however, the House bill addresses practically none of the policy included in the Senate bill. This leaves the House in a much weaker negotiating position than the Senate and raises questions on what will happen to House proposals in HR 7 (the dead House bill) that do not have some version of a counterpart in the Senate bill. Conferees were named and the first meeting is scheduled for the afternoon of Tuesday, May 8th.
It certainly is possible that a bill could be passed before the election; however, many still believe the odds are slim. The inclusion of the environmental policy and the Keystone Pipeline, both of which drew veto threats from the White House, indicate that conference could be particularly difficult. Further, it’s hard to see the conferees coming up with something that will get the necessary votes in the House, unless those votes come from the Democrats, but it is unlikely that House leadership will want to move a bill that will only pass with Democrat support.
On Thursday of this week, CVSA sent a letter to conferees, expressing the Alliance’s position on a number of issues that will be discussed during the conference. That letter is attached.
Senate T-HUD Committee Moves Forward on 2013 Appropriations
Two weeks ago, the Senate Appropriations Committee marked up its FY 2013 transportation appropriations bill. The bill contains a slight increase in FMCSA grant funding, up from $307,000,000, to $308,624,000:
- MCSAP - $213,624,000
- General MCSAP - $168,000,000
- New Entrant - $29,000,000
- High Priority - $16,624,000
- CDL - $30,000,000
- Border - $32,000,000
- PRISM - $5,000,000
- CVISN - $25,000,000
- Safety Data - $3,000,000
In addition to the $308 million, the committee provides $16,000,000 for “border facility improvements and information technology modernization efforts for FMCSA operations and programs.”
The bill also contains a vehicle weight exemption for a portion of Highway 41 in Wisconsin, which will soon be re-designated as interstate lane miles. The exemption grandfathers in any vehicles currently operating over the federal limit when the change takes place. As a compromise to the exemption, which saw opposition, the Committee agreed to include the Size & Weight study language from S.1813 in the appropriation measure.
2012
CVSA Legislative Update
The House has passed H.R. 4348. The bill includes another 90-day extension of transportation programs, through September 31st, along with the controversial Keystone Pipeline provisions and language dealing with Gulf Coast restoration. In addition, 3 amendments unrelated to CMV issues were approved.
The bill now heads to the Senate and many expect the two chambers to use this bill as the vehicle for entering into a conference to produce a final transportation bill. The additional extension is presumably intended to give the House and Senate additional time to negotiate the conference, though there has been some opposition from the Senate on the additional delay.
Many Republicans spoke out against HR 4348 because the bill, which has very, very little policy language, leaves the House disadvantaged as they enter into negotiations with the Senate. Others supported the bill as a way to get something, ANYTHING, passed in the House so the two chambers could move forward on a transportation bill. It’s likely, however, that House leaders will attempt use portions of the abandoned HR 7 as their starting point for negotiations.
As reported previously, the Senate has passed their version of a highway bill. The bill is two years in duration and is set at $109 billion. The bill contains a number of provisions supported by CVSA and is considered a critical step forward for CMV safety.
2012
CVSA Legislative Update
Earlier this afternoon, the House passed a 90-day extension of the current highway program. It is a ‘clean’ extension, which means there are no policy changes, just a new date set for the expiration of the current programs – June 30th 2012.
The extension was then sent to the Senate for consideration, where it was briefly debated then agreed to.
The measure now heads to the President’s desk for his signature. Reports from the White House indicate he will sign the extension.
House leaders will spend the next two weeks trying to cobble together a bill that can generate enough votes on the floor of the House. Their goal is to pass something so they’ll have some bargaining room with the Senate in a conference.
2012
House and Senate Standoff Over Future of Highway Bill
As reported previously (see March 14th update), the Senate has passed their version of a highway bill. The bill is two years in duration and is set at $109 billion. The bill contains a number of changes and provisions supported by CVSA and is considered a step forward for critical CMV safety (see CVSA press release on S.1813).
Meanwhile the 5-year, $260 billion bill, H.R.7, remains stalled in the House. As House leadership works to make revisions to H.R.7 that will yield the 218 votes necessary for passage, expiration of the current program looms.
The House and Senate have until 11:59 p.m. on March 31st to come to some sort of an agreement on the highway bill. Senators and House Democrats are encouraging the House to take up and pass H.R.14, which is identical to the bill that passed the Senate. This would provide for a very quick conference. Meanwhile, House Republicans have announced their preference for a three-month extension, which would allow them more time to secure support for the longer-term bill.
The three-month, ‘clean’ extension is expected to pass the House next week. The bill contains a simple extension of the existing program, with no policy changes.
Both the House and Senate are scheduled to recess for the first two weeks of April. The House is expected to pass the three-month extension and then adjourn next week, leaving the Senate with two options: (1) stand their ground and allow the highway programs to expire OR (2) pass the extension as well before adjourning. Neither is very appealing to the Senate leadership.
The next six or seven days will be filled with a lot of political grandstanding and back and forth between House Republicans and Senate Democrats. However, it’s expected that the Senate will pass the extension, once faced with the decision. Senate leaders are likely not willing to allow the highway programs to expire.
Assuming this happens, work will continue during the recess to find a bill that 218 Members of the House will support. Once the House and Senate are back, they’ll need to work quickly, as there limited days where both chambers are in session before the three months are up and there remains a great deal of work to do, especially if the House intends to offer a longer term bill.
2012
Senate Action
Earlier today, the Senate voted on and passed S.1813 – the body’s version of the long-stalled highway bill. Last week, the Senate was finally able to come to agreement on an assortment of amendments that would be considered prior to voting on the overall transportation package. Given that the transportation bill has been the business of the Senate for several weeks now, there have been a number of deals brokered off the Senate floor on small changes that are agreeable to each party. The Senate voted on around 30 amendments to the bill before holding the final vote on passage of the measure this afternoon.
A number of the relevant amendments sought to devolve the current federal system back to the states. Each of the measures failed. Two amendments providing exemptions (Merkley 1814 and Klobuchar 1617) for the agriculture community from hours-of-service and other motor carrier safety requirements were passed on voice votes.
The Merkley amendment – 1814 – is intended to allow farmers and ranchers to cross state borders to access the nearest processing facility. The language exempts farm trucks (“covered farm vehicles”) from federal safety regulations when they are moving crops, livestock, or equipment. The exemption applies when they are moving within 150 miles of their farm or within their state. The exemption applies to CDL requirements, medical exams and certificates, hours of service, and vehicle inspection and maintenance. In place of federal interstate trucking rules, states would be able to establish safety rules for these vehicles.
The Klobuchar amendment – 1617 – exempts vehicles moving farm commodities and supplies from hours-of-service regulations during planting and harvest seasons. This amendment reestablishes a blanket exemption that had been in place until a few years ago, until FMCSA limited it to anhydrous ammonia – a volatile farm supply. The exemption expands the waiver back to all movements of farm commodities within 100 miles of the property, including movements from wholesale to retail.
CVSA sent a letter to Members of the Senate strongly opposing the two agriculture amendments. However, the measures had support from the agriculture community, as well as ATA, and in the end they passed. The language from both amendments is included in the original House bill – HR 7 – making inclusion in a final bill, if passed, almost assured. CVSA staff will continue to push the issue with Congressional staff, but it’s unlikely that the exemptions will be removed at this point. We do have an amendment in the House, sponsored by Congressman Hank Johnson, which requires a study of the impact of such exemptions. We will continue to promote this amendment. If included, it could provide a springboard for addressing exemptions in future legislation.
While work is now complete on the Senate’s bill, there is still plenty to be done. Should the House pass a transportation bill (and that is NOT a given at this point), the two chambers will still need to appoint conferees to reconcile the two versions. The current program expires on March 31st and the House is out of session this week. This makes House passage and conference prior to the deadline essentially impossible. Therefore, despite passing their transportation measure, the Senate will likely still have to negotiate and approve an extension of some duration prior to the end of the month.
House Action
Meanwhile, the path forward on the House side remains unclear. Before adjourning for a district work period this week, House leadership tried unsuccessfully to generate the necessary votes to pass any sort of transportation measure. The original 5-year measure was scrapped, briefly, in hopes of passing a shorter bill that spent less money. However, the votes weren’t there for that type of a bill either and leadership has returned to the drawing board. Currently, House leaders are trying to negotiate a series of adjustments to the original 5-year bill that would yield the necessary 218 votes, this time reaching across party lines to try and attract Democrat support. Whether or not they will be successful remains to be seen.
At some point, negotiations on the longer term bill will have to be set aside so that the House can come to agreement on an extension. There is likely to be a lot of outreach between leadership in both parties on both sides of the Hill in order to come to some resolution on the immediate issue – the extension. However, there will inevitably be disagreements over length and substance of the extension (small policy changes versus NO changes aside from the date) and resolving those matters will take some time. Like a number of extensions in the past, this one will likely come down to an 11th hour deal, so that Members can continue to exert pressure over their key issues.
2012
Transportation Bill Update
There have been some fairly significant developments, but very little actual action, over the past two weeks regarding the long-delayed highway bill. Since our last update (see 2/10/12 update below), both the House and Senate bills have stalled out.
On the Senate side, leaders were preparing to bring the full surface transportation bill to the floor, through a series of amendments. However, as the highway bill is one of a very few items likely to move through the body this year, Senators began offering controversial ‘non-germane’ amendments, making it very difficult to move the bill forward (it should be noted that this is fairly standard for Senate business and is not a reflection on the bill itself).
Senate leadership has spent this week’s recess working, in a bipartisan manner, with their colleagues to identify which amendments will be offered and considered on the Senate floor. If they can reach agreement on all the relevant matters, the bill could see floor time as early as next week. However, as we move deeper into the calendar year, other items begin to take up Senate business time, and it’s possible the transportation bill could be put on hold, temporarily, for the Senate to consider other issues.
Meanwhile, things are even more complicated on the House side. The House began moving forward with their energy/transportation package two weeks ago, only to discover mounting opposition from all sides to various provisions in the bill. Nearly 300 amendments were filed to the transportation portion alone.
Democrats expressed frustration with the entire package and the process for developing it, saying they had been excluded. Both Democrats and moderate Republicans opposed the changes to transit funding while expressing concern that the bill does not spend enough. With likely unanimous Democrat opposition to the bill, Republicans needed nearly every Member of their party in order to move the bill. However, fiscal conservatives opposed the bill because, among other issues, it spends too much.
As a result, House leaders were forced to postpone consideration of the transportation provisions until after this week’s recess, in hopes they could reach a compromise and secure the necessary votes. Late yesterday, reports began to surface that such a compromise had not been reached. Those rumors were confirmed when Speaker Boehner’s office announced that the transportation bill would remain on hold, as Republican leaders attempt to gather the necessary votes. Leadership has also indicated that they are now considering major changes to the bill, in order to make it more palatable, including reducing the duration (which reduces the total cost of the bill) and removing the controversial transit provisions. As of this afternoon, work is still being done behind the scenes to determine a path forward.
The House and Senate have until March 31st to pass their own bills, conference the two versions and vote again in each body on the final conference report. If they’re not able to move the bills forward very soon, Congress will be forced to turn their attention to passing an extension to buy more time. The inevitable disagreements over length and substance of the extension will take some time as well.
Administration’s FY 2013 Budget Request
Last week, the Administration released its budget request for FY 2013. This year’s budget was very similar to last years. Given that both the House and Senate are in the midst of considering long-term surface transportation legislation, the Administration’s proposal is largely considered ‘dead on arrival’.
2012
Surface Transportation Legislation
Currently, both chambers are set to consider surface transportation legislation next week. Both chambers have committed to having an open amendment process, so debate on the bills is likely to stretch out for some time.
Attached, please find a section by section analysis of HR 7 – the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act of 2012, as well as a details account of the changes to MCSAP funding.
In addition, here is the official House summary of the bill.
CVSA staff is currently working with both House and Senate staff to address as many concerns as possible before legislation reaches the floor.
While the forward progress of both chambers is encouraging, doubts remain over Congress’s ability to reconcile the legislation, given the differences in length (2 years in the Senate, 5 years in the House), funding, and policy.
We’ll send more information as this continues to develop.
EOBRs
On Monday, FMCSA will post a Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking announcing the agency’s intent to move forward with the Electronic On-Board Recorders and Hours of Service Supporting Documents rulemaking. Moving forward, FMCSA intends to ‘hold
listening sessions on the issue of driver harassment; task the MCSAC Committee to assist in developing material to support this rulemaking, including technical specifications for EOBRs and their potential to be used to harass drivers; and conduct
research by surveying drivers, carriers, and vendors regarding harassment issues.’
The advance notice can be found here:
http://www.ofr.gov/OFRUpload/OFRData/2012-03265_PI.pdf
2012
House T&I Bill Introduced, Sees Highly Contentious Mark Up
The long awaited House Transportation & Infrastructure surface transportation authorization proposal has finally been released. On Tuesday, bill language was released to the public and a markup of the bill began this morning. The markup has been pretty contentious, with nearly 100 amendments offered from Members of both parties. Before I provide an initial summary, let me touch on the outlook for the bill moving forward.
Once the markup is completed, the bill will be partnered with funding provisions from the Ways & Means and Natural Resources Committees by the House Rules Committee. Currently, House leadership has indicated that it plans to have the bill on the House floor the week of February 17th. Meanwhile, the Senate continues to move forward with its version, with the Banking Committee (which handles the transit portions of the bill) also marking up today. No official date has been set for a Finance Committee markup – the portion of the bill responsible for providing the funding, obviously a critical piece. However, it seems likely that the relevant committees will complete their work in the coming weeks, setting both chambers up to move their legislation to the floor prior to the March 31st extension deadline.
However, even if both bills pass their chambers, and that’s still a big if, the two bills will have to be reconciled, no small task given the vast differences in the bills. Length, funding sources and policy all diverge dramatically in the bills.
Now on to a summary of the House bill – a brief summary follows. Please note that a much more comprehensive summary will be distributed once staff has had time to fully comprehend and analyze the bill.
First and foremost, the bill makes dramatic changes to the MCSAP safety funding. A draft assessment of the grant changes can be found here. CVSA staff continue to analyze the impact of these dramatic changes.
Further, the bill contains a number of policy changes of interest to CVSA members:
- Language calling for a size & weight limits study was added in markup
- Truck parking provisions
- Support for graduated licensing programs
- Provisions tightening motor carrier registration
- Targets chameleon carriers
- Tightens requirements for getting and maintaining a CDL
- Language on a National Registry of Medical Examiners
- Language on a National Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse
- Requirements for CMV safety standards, including passenger protection provisions for passenger vehicles
- Requires the establishment of minimum training requirements for CMV operators
- Includes a field study of the efficacy of the new HOS restart provision and prevents enforcement of that provision until the report is complete
- Includes requirements for any future rules regarding EOBRs, calling for a standard user interface for law enforcement and secure data transfer, including transportability for law enforcement
The bill also contains a number of exemptions to HOS and other safety regulations for members of the agricultural community.
Again, this is a brief summary of the bill. More information will be sent out soon. CVSA staff is available to discuss particular provisions.
2012
2012 Legislative Update
Early next week, work will begin in earnest on Capitol Hill. The House was in session earlier this week, briefly, before heading out for their party retreats. The Senate comes back next week. Both chambers have committed publicly to completing work on the pending transportation authorization.
Only two of the four Senate committees responsible for portions of the bill have completed their work, Commerce and EPW, leaving Banking and Finance. Both committees have indicated that they are nearly ready to mark up their bills. Senator Reid has said that the authorization bill will be a top priority this year. However, there are other bills in line, including patent and internet legislation, as well as the long pending Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization. Consideration of the authorization on the Senate floor will likely have to wait until February at the earliest.
Meanwhile on the House side, neither committee, Transportation & Infrastructure and Ways & Means, has marked up a bill. T&I Chairman Mica has committed to having the bill in his committee ready to go by early to mid February, and Speaker Boehner has indicated he’d like to have the bill to the House floor by March, in order to complete work before the March 31st extension deadline.
While both chambers appear committed to moving legislation early and quickly, it’s likely that at least one more extension will be necessary, if only a short one to buy time to reconcile House and Senate language.
The first few months of 2012 should be busy.
