DC Velocity - January 2013

newsworthy
Déjà Shuster, all over again

It’s “back to the future” for the House committee overseeing transportation and infrastructure in Congress.

On Jan. 3, Pennsylvania Republican Bill Shuster became chairman of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, a dozen years after his father, the legendary Elmer Greinert “Bud” Shuster, resigned from the same post. Shuster succeeds Rep. John L. Mica (R-Fla.).

Shuster, 51, has been in Congress since 2001, when he won a special election to succeed his father. Shuster has served on the committee since entering Congress and had recently chaired its Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee.

Shuster was one of the House conferees who negotiated a 27-month, $109 billion transportation-funding measure signed into law in July. The bill was the first multiyear reauthorization of transportation and infrastructure programs in seven years.

Those close to the process said Shuster was instrumental in educating freshmen lawmakers on the nuances of transportation and infrastructure issues, and the procedures required to successfully steer the bill through House-Senate negotiations.

“He played the role of loyal deputy to Mica and clearly was a valuable
team member,” said a high-level Washington source. “I believe his views
and Mica’s on major transportation issues are similar.”
Janet F. Kavinoky, executive director of transportation and infrastruc-
ture at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, described Shuster as “very knowl-
edgeable about transportation” and an advocate of seeking bipartisan sup-
port for legislative initiatives.

Kavinoky added that Shuster will likely be interested in pushing for a transport bill with more funding and a longer duration attached to it. “He understands the value of increasing the level of investment in transportation and infrastructure and the value of a long-term bill” to ensure that highway projects that often take several years to complete have the funding stream to do so, she said.

Intelligrated has appointed Mike
McCarthy to the position of sales
account manager.
… Saddle Creek
Logistics Services
has added a direc-
tor of business
development: Amy
Barnes. … Crowley
Maritime Corp. has
made changes to the senior lead-
ership team of its shipping and
logistics business lines. Frank
Larkin has been promoted to sen-
ior vice president and general
manager of logistics; Steve Collar
has been appointed senior vice
president and general manager
of Latin America services; and
John Hourihan has been named
senior vice president and general
manager of Puerto
Rico and Caribbean
services. … Krishna
Venkatasamy has
joined Lucas Sys-
tems as vice presi-
dent of engineer-
ing. … Robert Curry
Jr., president and CEO of
California Multimodal LLC, and J.
Christopher Lytle, executive direc-
tor of the Port of Long Beach
(Calif.), have been elected to the
board of directors of the
Intermodal Transportation Insti-
tute at the University of Denver.

… SI Systems has named Peter Rice vice president of sales and marketing. … The board of directors of Kuehne + Nagel International AG

has appointed Detlef Trefzger to the management board, starting March 1. Trefzger will take over global responsibility for the contract logistics business unit. … Paul Deveikis is the new chief executive officer of Retrotech Inc.

McCARTHY RICE

VENKATASAMY

newsmakers

FUTURE UNDER SHUSTER

Many will be watching to see how Shuster leans on the subject of federal motor fuels taxes, which are the near-exclusive source of funding for transport programs and which have not been raised in nearly 20 years. Shuster told reporters in December that all revenue sources, including gas taxes, must be put on the table for discussion.

Shuster’s committee has no jurisdiction over taxes, which are the domain of the House Ways and Means Committee. Still, given his elevated role in shaping transportation policy on Capitol Hill, Shuster’s comments and position are expected to be relevant.

Both the White House and Rep. Mica have opposed raising gas taxes, saying it would be a regressive levy that would retard the nation’s fragile recovery. The current transportation funding law keeps taxes at current levels until 2015. The federal fuel tax on diesel is 24. 4 cents a gallon and 18. 4 cents for gasoline.

C. Kenneth Orski, editor and publisher of “Innovation Briefs,” a Potomac, Md.-based newsletter covering transport and infrastructure issues, said he doesn’t foresee much change in policy, noting that broad policy directives in the House are generally set by the leadership and not by committee chairmen. ;