The outcome of the November 6th midterm elections will determine which party controls the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. Currently, both chambers are controlled by Republicans.
Last December, Congress passed the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, a $305 billion transportation funding bill with significant implications for historic preservation.
A lot of news (and panic) is rapidly circulating among the preservation and archaeological communities as the Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy Act – the DRIVE Act (S. 1647, sponsored by Sen. Inhofe (R-OK)) – makes its way through Congress. It passed the Senate on July 30 as an amendment to H.R. 22.
At a briefing on the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) on Capitol Hill on June 17, 2015, Historic Preservation Caucus Co-Chairs Reps. Michael Turner (R-OH) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) announced their introduction of the National Historic Preservation Amendments Act of 2015.
The Republicans took control of the Senate and strengthened their hold on the House on November 4. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) is headed for a runoff election in Louisiana, the GOP has won at least 8 Senate seats and will have 243 seats (see here) in the House.