Federal Lobby Day Turns Nine

The Association continued its longstanding work to urge a resolution to PEPRA legal battles, flexibility in ZEV transitions, and increased funding in the ramp up to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law reauthorization.

By Arianna Smith
Managing Editor
Transit California

This year's late-September trip to the nation's capital marked nine years of the Association's Federal Lobby Day. The annual two-day trip to Washington, D.C. brought together members of the Executive Committee, the Federal Legislative Committee and the Advocacy Team with Congressmembers, Federal Transit Administration (FTA) appointees, and American Public Transportation Association (APTA) leadership.

Every year, the trip is intended to be one part relationship building, one part educating, and one part policy advancing.

"The short-term goals may change from one Federal Lobby Day to the next, but each year's accomplishments build on work we've done in previous years," said Georgia Gann Dohrmann, Assistant Director for Legislative and Public Affairs of the Bay Area's Metropolitan Transportation Commission and Chair of the Association's Federal Legislative Committee. "Now that we've been doing this for nearly a decade, we have helped to create an increasingly well-informed delegation of California Congressmembers and other federal policymakers who are invested in seeing our state's public transit system succeed." She continued, "That said, we're about to face a new Administration and new legislators, possibly with new appointees and staff. The work our agency members did this year was a critical part of keeping our priorities and perspectives at the forefront of lawmakers' minds."

Meetings with Policymakers

The Association splits attendees into delegations for Northern California and Southern California in order to ensure that Congressmembers and their staff meet with members whose transit agencies serve communities near their districts.

This year, Association members met with 15 California Congressmembers or their staff: Senator Alex Padilla, Representatives Barbara Lee, Mark DeSaulnier, John Duarte, Doug LaMalfa, David G. Valadao, Mike Thompson, Jimmy Panetta, Jared Huffman, Scott Peters, Michelle Steele, Grace Napolitano, Pete Aguilar, Julia Brownley, Mike Garcia, and Jimmy Gomez. The group represents Congressmembers who have served for decades and who have worked their way onto transit-relevant committees, as well as more recently-elected legislators and staff who are building their influence and expertise.

While the Association's Southern California and Northern California delegations met separately with each of their own region's representatives, both groups came together to meet with the Senate Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development (THUD) Committee and the Senate Banking Committee. The Southern California delegation also met with the Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee and the House Housing Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, while Northern Californians met with additional congress members and the Senate Budget Committee.

Both delegations met with FTA and APTA appointees and their staff.

Education and Asks

The content of Federal Lobby Day 2024 meetings followed the approved 2024 Federal Legislative Program. Association members also had the opportunity to receive valuable feedback from the individuals with whom they met.

Association attendees focused on giving information about four key priorities to policymakers: the status of Public Employees' Pension Reform Act (PEPRA)'s effect on "Section 13(c)" collective bargaining arrangements; the transition to zero-emission technologies; federal spare ratio requirements; and the Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development appropriations bill.

"It is critical that our [Congressional] delegation in Washington understand the priorities of the Association and the industry," said Erin Rogers, CEO/General Manager of Omnitrans and Vice Chair of the Association's Executive Committee. "We appreciate our representatives and their staff's time, attention, and action on Association's priorities including ensuring federal grant funding is not delayed due to ligation related to PEPRA/13(c), the transition to zero emission vehicles and the federal spare ration requirements, and the THUD appropriations bill. We look forward to continued partnership as we work to address these vital transit priorities."

Most participants spent the balance of their meetings discussing the effect of a longstanding dispute over PEPRA between transit agencies, labor unions, the FTA, and California's Executive Branch. The courts and several Presidential Administrations have grappled with and issued numerous, sometimes conflicting rulings on whether PEPRA's implementation by transit agencies is a violation of collective bargaining for pensions. At stake is millions of dollars in federal funding and certainty over the statuses of major, approved transit infrastructure and planning. (For a thorough discussion of the decade-plus long series of legal battles, see Transit California's August 2024 explainer article).

Ultimately, participants conveyed to Congress and the current Administration that the Association's top priority is making sure that transit funds from federal sources continue to go to transit agencies, without regard to the status of ongoing litigation over California transit agencies complying with PEPRA; in turn, federal policymakers provided comments and feedback on the request. The Association's PEPRA Task Force is currently reviewing the feedback to incorporate into the 2025 federal legislative program.

For the transition to zero-emissions technologies, the Association urged the Biden Administration and Congress to increase flexibility for funding to ensure that the state can meet its 2040 climate goals. Specifically, the Association urged additional flexibility in spare ratio requirements for agencies transitioning to ZEB fleets and prioritizing federal funding for ZE-vehicles and infrastructure in federal formula programs, including the Urbanized Area Formula program and the State of Good Repair Program.

Finally, Association participants highlighted the need for Congress and the Administration to approve and enact a THUD Appropriations bill with program funding levels that will be consistent with the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). The brief discussions included requests to increase funding for Federal grant programs including the Capital Investment Grant Program and Low or No Emission Grant Program and the Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail. Congress will consider such increases next year when the BIL is up for reauthorization.

Looking Ahead

In 2025, the Association will celebrate its first full decade of Federal Lobby Day.

Next year, the Association will work to meet with and further develop relationships with appointees of a new Presidential Administration, a new California Senator, and possibly new or different California Congressional representatives. In addition to growing these relationships, the Association will focus much of its energy on the reauthorization bills for federal transportation programs by developing reauthorization principles during Winter 2024-25.

Planning for Federal Lobby Day 2025 begins long before September. It starts with the 2025 Federal Legislative Program, which the Association's relevant committees, alongside consultation of general membership, develops and approves nearly a year in advance. The feedback that Association members received from those they met with is being reviewed by the Association's Federal Legislative Committee and PEPRA Task Force, and it may be incorporated into the 2025 program, as well as the reauthorization principles. The November/December issue of Transit California will include a deep dive into the approved priorities.

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