Washington Wire - 2006-06-19

House Votes to Reduce Amtrak Funding
U.S. lawmakers are embroiled in another funding battle over funding for Amtrak, the national railroad and a popular link for business travelers between Washington, D.C., New York and Boston. A key House panel on June 6 recommended a $394 million reduction—31 percent—of its $1.3 billion annual subsidy. One week later, the full House voted to restore $214 million of that funding, approving a $1.1 billion subsidy for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. The battle is a replay of a similar one from last year. The Bush administration, which last year proposed ending the federal subsidy entirely, said the railroad, which operates trains in most states, is a financial mess. The House Appropriations Committee agreed, instructing Amtrak to find cost savings in food and beverage and first-class service. The legislation again would ban Amtrak from offering half-price tickets during peak hours. Rep. Steve LaTourette (R-Ohio) sponsored the restoration of some of the funding. Amtrak officials sought a $1.6 billion subsidy this year. The Senate has yet to act on the issue. A House-Senate conference committee ultimately will decide the final funding level for the railroad later this year. The transportation appropriations bill also increases funding for the Federal Aviation Administration to $15.2 billion, a $1.4 billion increase over last year and $2.4 billion more than the amount requested in Bush's February budget. Some $16 million of that is intended to hire and train 132 new air traffic controllers, the committee said.

FAA Imposes Traffic Controller Contract
U.S. air traffic controllers came up short in their effort to stop the Federal Aviation Administration from imposing a new labor contract on them after nearly a year of negotiation failed to produce a compromise. FAA administrator Marion Blakey on June 5 announced she would force the controllers to accept the terms of a government-imposed contract that lowers starting pay for new employees and slows salary increases for veterans after Congress failed to block the matter with a 60-day period, as required by law. Two days later, the House of Representatives fell eight votes short of the two-thirds majority required to force FAA back into contract talks. The imposition of the contract brings an end to the dispute, which festered for nine months, including a month of mediation. Blakey said pay for air traffic controllers has increased 74 percent since 1998, when the controllers last negotiated a contract with the Clinton administration. She said the government couldn't afford to sustain that rise in compensation. The air traffic controllers union said curtailing pay would hurt the ability of the government to hire new workers to replace an aging workforce. The new contract, they said, may actually entice air traffic controllers to retire rather than accept smaller increases in pay.

Study: Open Skies Would Lower Fares
Three companies that stand to gain from increasing airline traffic between the United States and the United Kingdom have funded a study that shows ending flight restrictions between the two countries would lower fares and increase flights by 29 percent within five years. Aircraft maker Boeing, engine maker General Electric and United Technologies Corp. helped pay for the study by InterVistas-ga2, a Washington, D.C., consulting firm. John Byerly, the State Department's deputy assistant secretary for transportation affairs, said the government would use the study to "press the case for liberalization around the world." The study also concluded that allowing more traffic between the U.S. and U.K. would create 117,000 jobs in a five-year period and add $7.8 billion to both economies. British Airways, Virgin Airways, United Airlines and American Airlines are the only carriers permitted to fly between the United States and London's Heathrow Airport. The U.S. is trying to increase the number of flights and carriers in talks with the E.U. about opening skies between the two continents.