Peter A. Peyser, Jr. founded Peyser Associates in 1982 as a lobbying firm representing state and local governments. Among the firm's notable achievements is their representation of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, having been selected by Governor Edward G. Rendell when he took office in 2003. Today, Peyser Associates also represents a number of national and international businesses. Peter Peyser joins Blank Rome along with associates: Tim Rutten, Caroline Martin, Michele Altemus and Beth Greco.

"We are thrilled to welcome Peter and his team to Blank Rome Government Relations LLC, and I am confident that this combination will create an even more substantial offering for our clients," said Mike Dyer, head of Blank Rome in Washington, DC. "Peyser Associates' combined experience in health care, state and local government, and maritime and transportation will better position us on both sides of the aisle as we continue to successfully represent clients before all levels of government."

Peyser Associates is well-known for its substantive knowledge in, among other policy areas, transportation, telecommunications, and health care. These areas of expertise complement Blank Rome's strengths in environment, homeland security, and maritime industries. Peyser's lobbying professionals have decades of government relations experience as well as a long track record of working effectively with both political parties.

"Keeping our lobbying team largely intact was an important goal for me in making this transition," said Peter A. Peyser, Jr., Peyser Associates founder and president. "Our clients will know that Blank Rome is a good home for them because it is a good home for the people who have been serving them."

The combination, effective July 1, 2005, will add to policy understanding and industry know-how for a range of clients. For more than twenty years, Peyser Associates has represented a national client base of state and city governments, regional agencies and private industry in transportation and finance.

Among its current public sector clients are the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the cities of Seattle and Macon, Ga., and regional transportation agencies in Philadelphia, Seattle, Portland, Ore., and Orange County, Calif. Its industrial clients include Fluor Corporation, Cubic Transportation System and the U.S. Transit Suppliers Coalition.

"Making this move to Blank Rome allows us to bring an even broader network of bipartisan contacts and expertise to bear on behalf of our clients," said Peyser. "Blank Rome approaches their work the same way we always have. They are results-driven and understand that happy clients are the best asset a firm can have as it grows its client base."

The acquisition adds to Blank Rome's fast-growing government relations practice, which was launched in May 2003 following the merger of Blank Rome LLP and Dyer Ellis & Joseph LLP. The firm has since grown substantially, attracting clients from a variety of industries.

About Blank Rome Government Relations LLC Blank Rome Government Relations LLC, an affiliate of Blank Rome LLP, includes 28 legal, lobbying and strategic communications professionals to manage virtually every aspect of a governmental issue facing a client. The firm's areas of experience include election and campaign law, corporate and tax, defense and national security, education and non-profit, energy and the environment, financial services, government contracts, health care, homeland security, maritime and transportation, housing and urban development, international trade, and technology.

The Government Relations Practice is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with offices in Delaware, Florida, Maryland, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania. For more information about Blank Rome Government Relations LLC, visit www.blankromegovernmentrelations.com or call 202-772-5800.

Just because the House is moving quickly does not mean the Senate is tracking at the same pace. However, Senate Appropriations Chairman Thad Chochran (R-Mississippi) has vowed to complete the bills before the August recess. But passage of the bills by both chambers gives no indication of how contentious or drawn out the conference committee process will be to reconcile all the differences.

While it appears that this major hurdle has now been crossed, it will still be a struggle for conferees to complete their work and have both chambers pass the conference report by the June 30 deadline. However, conferees will continue to meet today in an effort to avoid another extension.

The bill includes funding authorized for FY '06 under the House version of the six-year transportation bill, even though House and Senate conferees have yet to reach a deal on the bill.

The bill contains $37 billion for federal-aid highway spending -- an increase of $1.9 billion over last year's mark. Also included in the bill is $8.48 billion for transit programs -- an increase of $836 million over FY '05 funding.

Democratic amendments that failed during yesterday's markup included an additional $1.2 billion for Amtrak, $180 for IRS tax enforcement, $250 million for Community Development Block Grants, and $800 million to help states pay for new voting equipment.

The bill contains no earmarked transportation construction projects. Instead, those will be added in conference between the two chambers.

Full Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis (R-California) said the panel's approval of the bill will allow the House to stay on track to complete all the spending bill's by the Fourth of July recess. The Senate lags far behind this schedule. The chamber has only held full committee markups on three appropriations bills and has yet to bring any to the floor.

Our communications with key House and Senate staffers on Monday made it clear that the goal of completing conference -- if not achieving final passage -- by June 30 is in reach. Weekend meetings produced few results but there could be speedy progress once the total funding level is agreed to.

We are in close touch with key Members and staff on an ongoing basis and will keep you posted on developments.

How the Army Corps manages its budget could provide an additional stumbling block during conference discussions. The House and Senate versions of the bill differ dramatically on issues of corps financial management, including reprogramming funds and issuing multiyear contracts.

The House Energy and Water spending bill would allow Congress to more closely monitor the movement of funds by earmarking appropriations for specific projects, as well as limiting the use of some continuing contracts for projects that require multiyear appropriations. Traditionally, the corps has been granted the discretion to move funding from one project to another as it deals with weather restrictions, construction hold ups and other emergency situations.

The Senate committee passed a $5.3 billion budget for the Army Corps of Engineers and a $1.08 billion budget for the Bureau of Reclamation - more than $1 million increase over the House for the Bureau of Reclamation, which is $130 million above the president's request and $63.5 million more than the FY '05 level. Shipping and port industry groups support the Senate version.

Transportation industry leaders met June 15 with White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta and Federal Highways Administrator Mary Peters to discuss the funding level. The Federal officials laid out their case for sticking with the Administration's number of $283.9. The industry representatives were divided on the issue with some, notably John Horsely of AASHTO, arguing for the Senate's number of $294.5 billion. Mr. Card hinted at a willingness to compromise by saying that if the Senate came to him with a number that a majority of Senate conferees (16) could support, discussions could start from there. He said he hasn't seen a number yet that has that support.

Senate conferees are discussing informally whether there is a potential compromise number that could draw the support of a majority of their group. With Democrats hanging tough as a group for the higher number, GOP members who support a compromise will need to come forward in search of a consensus. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Chairman of the Committee on Environment and Public Works and leader of the Senate conferees, said yesterday a meeting would take place today (June 16) at which Senate conferees would discuss their options. Later in the day a key staffer said there would be no meeting. Confusion reigns as this is written as to how they will proceed.

In the meantime, very little substantive discussion is taking place at the staff level. If this week passes with virtually no progress towards an agreement, the prospects for completion before June 30 will be dimmer.

We will have further updates as events warrant.

FY05 Comparable: $63.172 billion ($18.418 billion Mandatory) FY06 Request: $60.705 billion (assumes transfer of economic development programs to Commerce Department) FY06 Chairman’s Mark: $66.935 billion ($18.993 billion Mandatory)

The bill represents a 6% growth over last year’s comparable levels. The bulk of this increase goes to providing guaranteed levels of discretionary spending for various Highway, Transit and Aviation programs. If the bill did not provide these mandated levels, the rules of the House of Representatives would prevent consideration of the bill. This preferential treatment is unique to certain transportation programs and is not afforded to any other discretionary program including Veteran’s Medical Care, Homeland Security funding or National Defense programs.

Boosts Highway Spending: Federal-aid highways spending is $37 billion, as set by HR 3. This is an increase of $1.6 billion over the President’s request and $1.9 billion over the FY 2005 enacted level, excluding emergency supplementals.

Supports Aviation: A total of $14.427 billion is provided to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) -- $877 million above the fiscal year 2005 level and $1.741 billion above the President’s request. This includes $8.2 billion in FAA operations, $3.6 billion for the Airport Improvement Program and $104 million for Essential Air Service. The bill includes $25 million to hire and train 595 new air traffic controllers, and an additional $8 million above the request to hire and train of safety inspectors in the office of aircraft certification and flight standards. The bill also extends the current provisions of war risk insurance, including current premium price caps, for one additional year.

Addressing Critical Housing Needs: The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is funded at $37.5 billion, $$1.547 billion above last year's level and $4.32 billion above the President's Request.

Funding for Section 8 programs is split into two accounts to provide better accountability and oversight.

*Tenant-Based Rental Assistance (Section 8 vouchers) is funded at $15.53 billion, $765 million over last year and $314 million below the request. Funding for the renewal of vouchers is significantly increased by $735 million to restore the reduction mandated last year and fund all anticipated increases in the costs. The costs of this program alone is now approaching 50% of HUD’s total budget.

*Project-Based Rental Assistance (project-based contracts) is funded at $5.10 billion, $210 million below last year and $16 million above the request. This fully funds all contracts including inflation and expands the use of inspectors to ensure that tenants live in decent affordable housing.

*Public and Indian Housing programs are funded at $6.8 billion and increase of $1.6 billion over last year and $466 million over the requested level. Implements a newly negotiated formula for distributing operating subsidies. Also includes $600 million for the Native American Housing Block Grants, $17 million above the request.

*Provides $4.2 billion for the Community Development Block Grant of which $3.86 billion in the formula funds to entitlement communities and states, a reduction of $250 million from the amount for the formula last year, The Committee did not agree to the proposal to eliminate this program, consolidate its functions and transfer the implementation to the Department of Commerce.

*HOME Investments Partnership is level funded at $1.9 billion, $41 million below the request, but increases the amount for the formula to participating jurisdictions by $60 million above the requested amount.

*Includes $1.34 billion for Homeless programs, an increase of $100 million over last year, $285 million for Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA), $741 million for Elderly Housing, and $238 million for Housing for Persons with Disabilities. The Committee did not agree to cut funding for assistance to victims of HIV/AIDs or eliminate funding for the construction of facilities for low income disabled persons, as requested.

*Provides the requested level for the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight of $60 million.

*Eliminates several lower priority programs, as requested, in order to help meet the rapidly increasing costs of rental assistance in Section 8 and public Housing and stay within the Committees allocation.

Capital Investments in Transit: Transit program spending totals $8.482 billion as mandated by HR 3, $836 million above FY05 and $701 above the request.

Supports National Anti-Drug Efforts: Provides $497 million to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, including:

*$227 million for the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program.

*$120 million for the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign

*$80 million for the Drug-Free Communities program.

Provides for Smarter, More Efficient Amtrak Operations: The bill provides $550 million for Amtrak, $190 million over the President’s budget request and $657 million below FY05. The bill also prohibits taxpayer funding of Amtrak’s most unprofitable routes.

District of Columbia Federal Payment: District Funds: FY05 Bill: $556 million FY06 Bill: $8.3 billion FY06 Budget Request: $573.4 million FY06 Request: $8.3 billion FY06 Funding: $604 million

Federal Judiciary:
Provides a 6% increase in funding for Federal Judiciary. Total funding is $5.8 billion, $341 million above FY05 and $185 million below the request. This level will fully fund the court’s revised request for security improvements at Federal judicial facilities, and enable the courts to effectively process priority criminal, civil and bankruptcy cases.

Agency Funding:

Department of Treasury is funded at $11.6 billion, $336 million above FY05 and $94 million below the President’s request. The Internal Revenue Service is funded at $10.5 billion, $313 million above FY05 and $130 million below the request.

The bulk of the increase is for the tax enforcement activities of the IRS.

Federal Election Commission is funded at the budget request of $55 million, $3 million above FY05 and the Election Assistance Commission is funded at $16 million.

National Historical Publications and Records Commission is funded at $7.5million ($5.5 million for grants and $2 million for administrative costs), $7.5 million above the President’s request.

Other provisions

*Maintains both current law requiring contraceptive coverage under FEHBP (except in certain circumstances) and current law prohibiting the use of funds under FEHBP to pay for an abortion, except where the life of the mother is endangered or in case of rape or incest.

*Maintains current law on all restrictions on federal and local funds for the District of Columbia.

Key staffers on both sides of the Capitol have told us in recent days that if a number is not settled on this week, it will be very difficult to get a bill done before the July 4th recess. The most recent extension of TEA-21 programs expires on June 30. We will be assessing the situation constantly and will report to you as we learn more.

H.R. 2864 would authorize funding for major navigation, flood control and environmental restoration projects carried out by the Army Corps of Engineers and is almost identical to the version of WRDA passed in the House in 2003. In April, the 2005 Senate version of WRDA (S. 728), with a price tag between $7 billion and $17 billion, was approved by the Environment and Public Works Committee.

The legislation was introduced by full T&I Committee Chairman Don Young (R-Alaska), Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee Chairman John Duncan (R-Tennessee), T&I Committee ranking member James Oberstar (D-Minnesota) and Subcommittee ranking member Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas).

Congress intended to renew WRDA every two years, but last approved the authorization in 2000. Subsequent reauthorization efforts failed due to opposition from environmentalists and lawmakers who felt the legislation needed to force the corps to do more to mitigate damages to natural resources and stiffen the process for independent reviews of the corps' work.

The House Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee will mark up the bill Thursday, and the full committee markup in the House could come as early as next week.

The 302(b) allocations depart significantly from President Bush's own budget request for FY 2006 and the spending plans developed by the House. In particular, Cochran's plan calls for moving billions from the Defense side to domestic programs, which are slated for deep cuts in the president's budget.

While the shifts Cochran has proposed are not expected to become law, Senate appropriators are hoping the plan will help them avoid some early battles over domestic program cuts that could threaten Republican leaders' goal of avoiding an omnibus for the first time in years.

According to the committee, the allocations for the 12 bills will be as follows:

Agriculture at $17.3 billion, up from Bush's $16.9 billion;

Commerce-Justice-State at $48.6 billion, up from Bush's $47.3 billion;

Defense at $400.7 billion, down from Bush's $407.7 billion;

District of Columbia at $593 million, up from Bush's $573 million;

Energy and Water at $31.2 billion, up from Bush's $29.7 billion;

Homeland Security at $30.8 billion, up from Bush's $29.6 billion;

Interior at $26.2 billion, up from Bush's $25.7 billion;

Labor and Health and Human Services at $141.3 billion, the same level as Bush proposed;

Legislative Branch at $3.9 billion, down from Bush's $4 billion;

Military Construction/Veterans Affairs at $44.4 billion, up from Bush's $43.1 billion;

State-Foreign Operations at $31.7 billion, down from Bush's $32.7 billion; and

Transportation-Treasury-HUD at $65.4 billion, up from Bush's $63.1 billion.

In addition to the agriculture appropriations bill passed yesterday, the House has also passed:

*Energy and Water Development

*Homeland security

*Interior-Environment

*Military Quality of Life - Veterans Affairs

All remaining bills have seen some sort of action (at least at the subcommittee level) except for the following:

*Foreign Operations

*Transportation-Treasury-HUD-Judiciary-D.C.

Also yesterday, an Appropriations subcommittee approved $142.5 billion in discretionary spending for health, education and labor programs in FY '06. The Labor-HHS-Education draft bill, which was approved by voice vote, would provide an overall total of $459.5 billion when entitlement programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and unemployment insurance are included. The discretionary funding is $164 million below the current year’s levels, a 0.1 percent decrease, but $924 million more than President Bush’s budget request.

Up on the House floor for next week: Science, State, Justice and Commerce, and Defense.

Perhaps the most noteworthy comment of all was House Majority Leader Tom Delay's (R-TX) that the President would only support the $283.9 billion figure and that he would support nothing higher than that either. Speaking most forcefully for those (clearly in the majority) who support a higher number, Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) said the conferees should settle on a number between the House ($283.9) and the Senate ($294.5) because "that is what we do in conference." House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas (R-CA) said that if Members wanted to work out a different funding level "I'm not hard to find." However, it was clear that unlike last year, Thomas was not going to take a leadership role in trying to find a workable number.

Staffs will now resume their conversations about issues in the bill that can be discussed without having settled on the overall number. Unfortunately, such issues are small in number. If the conference is to be completed in time for the reauthorization to be passed before the current June 30 expiration, a decision on the funding level will need to come next week.

We are in regular touch with staff and Members of the Conference. We will keep you posted on developments.

Despite conversations between White House Chief of Staff Andy Card and key conferees regarding the difference in funding between the two bills and public comments this week from House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas (R-California) that he’s open to meeting the Senate about halfway on funding levels, Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta sent a letter June 7 to conferees pledging a presidential veto if the legislation emerges with a price tag of more than $284 billion and criticizing offsets in the Senate bill used to increase the overall funding level. In addition, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) told reporters that President Bush said June 8 $284 billion is the only funding level he will support. Restating what has been included in two statements of administration policy, Mineta wrote that if the bill carries a funding level higher than the House's $284 billion, "the president's senior advisers would recommend that he veto the bill."

In the Interior Department, the bill would increase the operations budget for the National Park Service by $65 million to $1.75 billion, $20 million above the Bush administration's request. In addition, other agencies are funded at the following levels:

*BLM - $1.79 billion ($28 million below FY '05)

*Fish and Wildlife Service - $1.3 billion ($23 million below FY '05)

*U.S. Geological Survey - $963 million ($27 million increase over FY '05)

*Mineral Management Service - $160 million ($14 million below FY '05)

*Office of Surface Mining and Reclamation Enforcement - $110 million ($2 million increase over FY '05)

*Payment in Lieu of Taxes program - $235 million ($10 million increase over FY '05)

Most numbers are close to those in the House bill (H.R. 2361) passed on May 19. The full Senate appropriations panel is scheduled to take up the bill tomorrow.