Legislation sponsored by Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA) to compensate nearly 2,000 employees of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) who were unfairly furloughed for two days in March because of political gamesmanship in the U.S. Senate passed the U.S. House of Representatives today.

Connolly’s bill, which would compensate 1,922 employees of four DOT agencies who were furloughed on March 1 and 2 when the Highway Trust Fund was allowed to lapse, passed the House Wednesday morning with strong bipartisan support.  The legislation also ratifies actions taken by DOT during those two days to maintain minimum essential services.

The employees, who work for the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Research and Innovative Technology Administration, were furloughed through no fault of their own, Connolly said.

“These DOT employees became unwitting victims of an arcane practice in the upper chamber that allows one member's objection, no matter how specious, to grind to a halt the work of the American people,” Connolly said on the House floor during consideration of his measure. “By taking action now, we will prevent a 20% cut in the next bi-weekly paycheck for these dedicated public servants and their families.”

Connolly noted that there is clear precedent for compensating federal employees for such furloughs, citing the 26-day government shutdown affecting 800,000 federal workers in late 1995 and early 1996 during the Clinton Administration.  The Republican-controlled Congress subsequently voted to compensate all of those employees.

“It was the right thing to do then, and it's the right thing to do now,” Connolly said before the House approved his bill Wednesday. “

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Video of today’s floor action on the Connolly bill can be found here.

The full text of Connolly’s floor speech follows:

Wednesday, March 10, 2010
House Floor Statement of Congressman Gerald E. Connolly (VA-11th)
H.R. 4786

H.R. 4786 – To provide authority to compensate Federal employees for the 2-day period in which the Highway Trust Fund lapsed

I rise in strong support of this bipartisan legislation which will compensate those federal transportation employees who were unfairly furloughed on March 1st and 2nd because of a lapse in Highway Trust Fund.

Let me start by commending Chairman Oberstar, Ranking Member Mica and Subcommittee Chairman DeFazio for their leadership on this issue and for their efforts to push a long-term renewal of the Surface Transportation Authorization Act, which could have helped prevent this situation from arising in the first place.

H.R. 4786 is a simple, common sense bill. It would compensate the 1,922 DOT employees who were forced out of their job for two days because of political gamesmanship on the other side of the capitol.

These employees -- who are spread across four agencies at DOT -- the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Research and Innovative Technology Administration -- were furloughed through no fault of their own.

They became unwitting victims of an arcane practice in the upper chamber that allows one member's objection, no matter how specious, to grind to a halt the work of the American people.

As my colleagues recall, an objection by the junior Senator from Kentucky led to the lapse of authorization for the Highway Trust Fund -- despite the objections of some in his own party, including 21 of his Republican colleagues who supported an extension in a 78-19 vote.

This bill does two simple things: It authorizes those workers who were furloughed to be compensated at their normal rate of pay for the two days in which they were laid off, AND it ratifies actions taken by DOT during those two days to maintain minimum essential services.

The Congressional Budget Office says this legislation has no new costs associated with it as the funding will come from existing expenses. 

By taking action now, we will prevent a 20% cut in the next bi-weekly paycheck for these dedicated public servants and their families.
 
There is clear precedent for this type of restorative action dating back to the much longer government shutdown in late 1995/early 1996 during the Clinton Administration. During that period, there were two funding gaps totaling 26 days that affected more than 800,000 federal workers.

As part of the final appropriations bill for FY 1996, the Republican-controlled Congress restored compensation for those employees.

It was the right thing to do then, and it's the right thing to do now.

I thank the Chairman for his collaboration on this important legislation and I urge my colleagues to vote YES.

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