November 2003 Government Affairs Update

 

 

New Legislation

Geospatial Bill introduced in House. On Oct. 21, Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) introduced H.R. 3367, for the purpose of “providing for additional responsibilities for the Chief Information Officer of the Department of Homeland Security relating to geospatial information”. This bill is the companion of the geospatial bill introduced by Senator Wayne Allard (R-CO).

The introduction of this bill is important because, with an identical bill in the House and Senate, the chances of it passing both chambers unscathed are increased.

 

TRAC is Back!  On October 30, Rep. Albert Wynn (D-MD) introduced HR 3426, the `Truthfulness, Responsibility, and Accountability in Contracting Act of 2003', otherwise known as TRAC. Rep. Wynn introduces this legislation every year, and it continues to be defeated. This year, he has 46 cosponsors of the legislation, mostly Democrats. Laurence Socci will review the legislation to determine how it compares with previous versions of the legislation. ACSM members will hear more about this bill in future updates.

 

Getting our Issues Heard in Congress

Pushing S. 1230 forward. Laurence Socci and Curt Sumner met with staff from the offices of Senator Susan Collins and Senator Joe Lieberman to discuss the progress of Senate bill S. 1230. We learned that the bill will not come up for consideration until next year. The staffers informed us that there was a slight problem with the language in the bill because, as the bill stands now, it conflicts with the E-Government Act of 2002. The staffers told us about language that was being considered to fix the problem. We were asked if we had a problem with the proposed language and we made some suggestions, which the staffers agreed with. We are going to be in close contact with the staff from Senators Collins’ and Lieberman’s offices to consult with them as the bill comes up next year.

 

Lunch with Senator Allard. Laurence Socci and Curt Sumner attended a fundraiser luncheon with Senator Wayne Allard recently. We were able to have an opportunity to speak with Senator Allard personally and voice support for his geospatial bill and pledge ACSM’s support. We were also able to discuss the RESPA issue we have been working on with him. Senator Allard was interested in the issue and recommended that we speak with one of his staffers to discuss the issue further. Senator Allard has received awards and recognition from consumer and homebuyer advocate groups for his work in support of homebuyers. We feel that he would be a good Member of Congress to help us get our proposed legislation moving.

 

Working with Federal Agencies

Progress of FEMA Flood Map Modernization Program. Laurence Socci joined the rest of the FEMA Flood Map Coalition in a meeting with FEMA staff to discuss the progress of the FEMA Flood Map Modernization Program. A national service provider has been selected to oversee the project, but the contract has not been officially awarded yet. The provider is Michael Baker Engineering, Co.

 

FEMA discussed its priorities for the project which include development of a geospatial data platform on the Internet, implementation of performance based program management; and coastal flood hazard assessment. FEMA also discussed its Map Modernization Communication Strategy. The purpose of the strategy is to provide a “broad, comprehensive menu of messages, materials, and methods that can be used to fit the needs of communicating with stakeholders throughout the process.”

 

After the meeting, Douglas Bellomo, FEMA Project Engineer spoke with Laurence Socci to suggest that ACSM and FEMA work closely together as the project moves forward. Hopefully, we will be able to play a very important role in the implementation of the project.