While the House debates a 30-day extension of TEA-21, a conference committee will meet today to discuss HR 3550, which would reauthorize the existing act for six years. While many of the staff recommendations aimed at mediating the differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill are likely to be adopted by the committee, there are still large discrepancies that present real hurdles to passage. Negotiations have been complicated by a letter sent from Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, objecting to many portions contained in versions of the bill, as well as the overall spending levels called for. Mineta's full letter is located on the analysis side of out website.

A fight is expected during the conference over what Rep. Judy Biggert (R-Illinois) sees as an inappropriate expansion of worker protections. The current language of the House bill would require all transit agencies receiving federal funds to protect the rights and benefits of workers paid with these dollars, enlarging the scope of the Davis-Bacon Act. Biggert maintains that the provision, which expands the Department of Labor’s existing jurisdiction, does not belong in a transportation bill. Seen by some as part of a larger strategy by Republicans to weaken laws governing labor relations, this push by Biggert marks the second time in two years that she has publicly battled labor unions. In 2003, she sponsored a bill that would have overhauled overtime pay regulations.