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Weekly Trek: July 10, 2015

Weekly Trek

July 10, 2015

Top Political News

  • 2016 voters, by the numbers. National Journal offers a data-driven sneak peek at what the electorate is apt to look like next November.
  • Confederate flag removed from South Carolina statehouse. WSJ
  • The embattled director of the Office of Personnel Management has resigned, bowing to mounting pressure from Capitol Hill for her to step aside over a devastating government hack. The Hill
  • Democrats face narrow path to retake Senate in 2016. Politico

Transportation

  • Ryan pushes for 6-year highway bill, rejects shorter Senate plan. Bloomberg
  • More than 100 travel and tourism groups wrote to House and Senate transportation leaders to use FAA overhaul legislation to raise the cap on Passenger Facility Charges, protect all Open Skies agreements, and switch to a user-fee model for air traffic control services. Letter from the U.S. Travel Association.
  • McConnell, Ryan at odds over highway fix. The Hill
  • McConnell rules out gas tax increase. Politico
  • Senators Pitch Tax Changes on Overseas Profits to Fund Highways. WSJ
  • Senate could take up highway bill next week. WashPo
  • Detailed plan for Dundee transportation unveiled. NewbergGraphic
  • Cantwell, Booker, Murray, Markey introduce comprehensive freight investment legislation. Spokesman-Review

 

Energy & Natural Resources

 

  • House rejects lifting restrictions on ozone regulations. The Hill
  • Is a deal on federal timber policy in the offing? House GOP hopes so as it passes new logging bill. Oregonian
  • Businesses flock to White House in bid to shape power plant regs. The Hill
  • Uproar over Confederate flag blocks Interior-Environment bill. The Hill and 5 things to know about it
  • Farmers looking forward to wider use of drones. Spokesman-Review
  • Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) is asking Obama administration officials for further scientific justification for their rule establishing regulatory power over waterways. The Hill
  • EPA critics see carbon lesson in high court’s ruling rolling back emissions regulation. RollCall

 

Labor

 

  • How states are confronting high long-term unemployment. Governing
  • Rice calls for apprenticeships to be included in labor agreements for federal construction projects. LaborPress
  • State legislatures consider future of American labor. Governing
  • US labor proposals may squeeze complex financial products. BusinessWire

 

Foreign Affairs, Trade, & Defense

 

  • Seattle ranks No. 4 in U.S. exporting cities with record $61.9 billion goods exported in 2014. SeattlePI
  • Conservatives prepare for showdown on Ex-Im Bank. The Hill
  • GOP presidential hopefuls tout opposition to Ex-Im Bank to burnish their conservative bona fides. WSJ
  • Four sticking points to a GOP defense deal. The Hill
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