Yesterday, the House voted on a series of amendments for the FY 2016 appropriations bill for the Department of Transportation and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

I wanted to highlight several votes that had to do with transportation safety.

Motorcycle Safety

Tim Walberg (MI-07) offered an amendment to strike section 102 from the bill which allows the Secretary or his designee to engage in activities with States and State legislators to consider proposals related to the reduction of motorcycle fatalities.

It passed 235 to 189.

7 Democrats joined Republicans in voting for it. 12 Republicans joined Democrats in voting against it.

Here are the 7 Democrats:

Kyrsten Sinema (AZ-09)
Norma Torres (CA-35)
Jared Polis (CO-02)
Tulsi Gabbard (HI-02)
Tim Walz (MN-01)
Collin Peterson (MN-07)
Donald Norcross (NJ-01)

Trucking Safety

Matt Cartwright (PA-17) offered an amendment to strike section 134 of the bill, which prohibits the use of funds to develop, issue, or implement any regulation that increases levels of minimum financial responsibility for transporting passengers or property as in effect on January 1, 2014.

This refers to a provision in the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) which directed the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to issue a report to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives on the appropriateness of the current minimum financial responsibility requirements for motor carriers of property and passengers, and the current bond and insurance requirements for freight forwarders and brokers. It also directed the Secretary to issue a report on the appropriateness of these requirements every 4 years starting April 1, 2013.

Carwright’s amendment failed 176 to 247.

10 Republicans joined Democrats in voting for it. 18 Democrats joined Republicans in voting against it.

Here are the 18 Democrats:

Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ-01)
Kyrsten Sinema (AZ-09)
Jerry McNerney (CA-09)
Jim Costa (CA-16)
Ed Perlmutter (CO-07)
Alcee Hastings (FL-20)
Frederica Wilson (FL-24)
John Lewis (GA-05)
Dan Lipinski (IL-03)
Brenda Lawrence (MI-14)
Tim Walz (MN-01)
Collin Peterson (MN-07)
Rick Nolan (MN-08)
Brad Ashford (NE-02)
Yvette Clarke (NY-09)
Marcia Fudge (OH-11)
Kurt Schrader (OR-05)
Henry Cuellar (TX-18)

Pipeline Safety
Lois Capps (CA-24) to increase funding in the Pipeline Safety Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund by $27,604,000.

It failed 202 to 222.

178 Democrats and 24 Republicans voted for it. 216 Republicans and 6 Democrats voted against it.

Here are the 6 Democrats:

Kyrsten Sinema (AZ-09)
Gwen Graham (FL-02)
Patrick Murphy (FL-18)
Michelle Lujan Grisham (NM-01)
Ben Lujan (NM-03)
Henry Cuellar (TX-28)