Making a kitchen-table case for massive water bill

by Scott Wong, Politico, September 12, 2013.

Less wonk. More real-world relevance.

That could be the new slogan for the lawmakers and lobbyists trying to pass the House’s first massive water and infrastructure bill since 2007.

The strategy: Emphasize the impact the bill will have on people’s everyday lives, including their clothing, home appliances and jobs.

Expect to hear that message a lot as House Transportation Committee bosses continue rolling out their version of the Water Resources and Reform Development Act this week.

The Senate passed its own $12 billion water bill by an 83-14 vote in May, using the legislation’s traditional name (the Water Resources Development Act) and a much-debated strategy for getting around Congress’s ban on earmarks. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) added the word “Reform,” signaling his intent to limit costs and cut back on the notoriously long timelines of the Army Corps of Engineers’ project reviews.

Beyond those complexities, supporters’ challenge is to communicate their message to newer lawmakers who weren’t around the last time Congress approved a WRDA bill — and to average Americans who may not have been paying attention back then.

Their other hurdle: how to keep the water bill on track as budget battles, immigration and possible action on Syria vie for lawmakers’ attention this month.

In an animated YouTube video posted Wednesday, Shuster explains that the water bill is essential to household goods that are transported through the nation’s ports and waterways, from cereal and clothing to kitchen appliances. His committee is also distributing a user-friendly booklet about the bill to constituents, lawmakers and stakeholders.

And the U.S. Chamber of Commerce this week unveiled a 50-state fact sheet detailing exactly how many jobs and billions of dollars in commerce can be traced to each state’s ports and waterways.

“We needed something on a state-by-state basis that essentially explains how waterways and ports contribute to the economic vitality of the United States,” said Janet Kavinoky, the chamber’s executive director for transportation and infrastructure.

“It’s more of an education process for folks on Capitol Hill who have never done a WRDA bill,” she added. “It’s something less wonky, more relevant that we can use to explain that this is a big piece of the economy.”

After months of delays, work is finally picking up on the House’s version. At Wednesday’s news conference, Shuster joined committee ranking member Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) and other co-authors in introducing the House bill, which would authorize the Army Corps of Engineers to tackle billions of dollars’ worth of dredging, flood protection and environmental projects.

The Transportation panel will hold a markup on Sept. 19.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) has carved out floor time for the bill during the fall agenda, saying in a memo that the bill “cuts federal red tape and bureaucracy, streamlines the project delivery process, improves competitiveness, strengthens water resources infrastructure and promotes fiscal responsibility. Most importantly, WRRDA contains no earmarks.”

Among other highlights of the bill: The Army Corps’ review times for projects would be limited to three years while $3 million caps would be placed on how much the government can spend on the studies. And like the Senate bill, the House plan establishes a process to deauthorize at least $12 billion worth of inactive projects on the corps’ long to-do list.

“We have good reforms in there that need to happen,” Rep. Bob Gibbs (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Transportation subcommittee that oversees water issues, told POLITICO. “If we don’t do WRRDA, we’re gonna have projects in there that will actually stop at the end of this year and add to the costs and delays.”

The chamber’s 50-state report highlights exactly what’s at stake in lawmakers’ backyards. For example, the fact sheet for Florida says waterways and four major ports support nearly 120,000 direct and indirect jobs in the state and contribute more than $23 billion a year to the Sunshine State’s economy. Direct jobs include longshoremen, terminal operators, truckers and freight forwarders.

Even in landlocked Idaho, waterways and ports back nearly 10,000 jobs and contribute $1.6 billion to the economy, the chamber says.

“Obviously, doing WRRDA and getting these projects going creates jobs, but it also creates jobs in the future because we’ve got a more efficient system,” Gibbs said. “If the river system is shutting down or there are slowdowns and stuff is not moving through like it should, there is a ripple effect through the whole economy.”

Shuster’s video, a nod to Schoolhouse Rock’s beloved “How a Bill Becomes a Law” cartoon, illustrates how a wonky acronym like WRRDA affects kitchen-table issues for families.

“It’s a bill that’s essential to our everyday life,” the chairman narrates in the video, which features a drawing of a man sitting in his kitchen. “You see, we are surrounded by the goods that travel through our ports and waterways, goods that start off our day, goods that feed us.”

“Imagine what life would be like without this commerce,” he continues. “Many of the things you rely on wouldn’t be available, including the cereal we eat, the appliances we cook with and even the clothes we wear.”

Until now, not much had leaked out about the House bill, a signal that committee Republicans and Democrats have been working well together, observers said. And despite Washington’s obsession right now with the Syria situation, supporters said they’re committed to seeing the WRRDA bill through.

The water bill “is not getting the attention and focus it needs in the larger aspect of Congress,” Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.), whose district includes PortMiami, told POLITICO. “But in the committee work, it should still stay on target.”