The Bellevue Compass

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Welcome back to The Bellevue Compass. This is one of those weeks in Washington where everything and everyone is moving. Legislators are on a deadline before they’re out of office for the Memorial Day holiday, so the Hill is scrambling as Congress tries to get its priorities into legislative language and onto the floor before the break. We’ve got the breakdown of everything that’s up in the air this week. 

The Congressional Breakdown

Before we cover the movement on legislation that we’ve covered in prior weeks, let’s talk about the new stuff, including Representative Nancy Mace’s (ATT) call for a one-year moratorium on new data center construction in South Carolina, arguing that the energy-guzzling AI servers are driving up energy demand and electricity for the state’s families and small businesses. Like we’ve said before, AI—and the data centers needed to power it—is shaping up to be a major topic in the coming election. More on this later in The Pennsylvania Impact section. 

Senators James Lankford (R-OK) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) introduced a sweeping bipartisan bill to combat antisemitism. The bill focuses on education, online content, and security. Provisions include requiring the Department of Education to designate an antisemitism coordinator and establish regulations for colleges that receive DOE funding, mandating non-discriminatory policies and grievance processes. The bill would also boost nonprofit security grants to $1 billion for Jewish communities and other places of worship, and would require new disclosures from online platforms regarding their moderation of antisemitic content. A companion bill in the House is expected soon. 

The White House—or rather, VP JD Vance—is pushing for inclusion of the Railway Safety Act in the newly released surface transportation bill, and the vote is expected in the House Transportation Committee on Thursday. The most important thing to know about the Railway Safety Act is its contentious provision mandating two-person crews on freight trains, a measure strongly supported by labor unions but opposed by the industry. The bill also includes new requirements for trains carrying hazardous materials, increased inspection standards, and additional regulations for wayside detectors, stemming from the tragic railway crash in East Palestine, Ohio, in 2023.

Speaking of the surface transportation bill: in a manner similar to the encompassing farm bill, the surface transportation bill is a five-year piece of legislation that regulates and directs funds to surface transportation programs, crafted by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The House Committee agreed on Sunday to a $580 billion bill that directs $65 billion to rail programs and $41 billion to discretionary grant programs. Amtrak will receive $10.4 billion in grants over five years for operations on the Northeast Corridor and $20.8 billion for its growing national network. 

Now, the latest on what we’ve been talking about. First up is the housing bill, which is still raising blood pressures and tension between the House and Senate over their respective versions. The House’s amended version scales back the Senate’s bill regarding restrictions on large investors buying houses, and despite the House’s version garnering bipartisan support from House Financial Services leadership, Senate banking leaders—and the White House—are pushing for the Senate’s version of the bill. The legislation will see its next vote in the House today, and will be sent back to the Senate. Legislators have also ignored repeated calls from the White House and President Trump to include the controversial SAVE Act into the bill. As of right now, that bill looks to be lying on the cutting room floor. 

The GOP’s immigration enforcement/reconciliation bill got a three-hour-long markup treatment on Tuesday, where Senate Democrats introduced dozens of amendments. Among them were requiring ICE agents to clearly identify themselves during enforcement operations, expanding judicial warrant requirements, and banning DHS officers from entering houses of worship. Predictably, the Democrat-led amendments were tabled in an 8-7 vote. Lawmakers are still tuning up the bill’s language after Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled that “several elements of the package failed to comply with the Byrd Rule and could not be included, as drafted”. Among the elements struck were President Trump’s White House ballroom security and Secret Service funding measures. Today’s vote on the bill is likely to stretch into Thursday or Friday. 

The Latest on Iran

For the first time since the start of the conflict, the Senate managed to advance a war powers resolution seeking to curb President Trump’s continuation of the war in Iran. The tiebreaker came after Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy flipped his vote, following his defeat in the Republican primary yesterday against his Trump-endorsed opponent. Senators Rand Paul, Susan Collins, and Lisa Murkowski also backed the resolution, with John Fetterman being the lone Democrat to vote against it. The final vote was 50-47. 

Progress towards a ceasefire deal has been slow, and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned this morning that “any new attack on the country would provoke them to spread the war beyond the Middle East”. The White House and DOJ have been adamant that this will not be a “forever war”, but tensions are high as Iran has rejected the United States’ most serious points during negotiation: the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s nuclear program. Pakistan continues to mediate the negotiations, but right now, there’s no definitive timeline for a solution.

The Sector Breakdown

The Pennsylvania Impact

Washington is taking up the data center fight, but it’s been going on in Pennsylvania for months. Mace’s legislation this week might be the first time we’re seeing a potential moratorium taken to the congressional level, but other states have been showing a growing bipartisan opposition to data centers. Construction freezes and new guidelines are emerging in other states and at local levels, including Texas, where a county southwest of Dallas passed the state’s first county-level moratorium on data centers. 

Similar measures have popped up in at least 12 other states, according to Politico, though most have been stalled or opposed. Maine’s statewide data center moratorium bill was set to be passed, but was ultimately vetoed by Democratic Gov. Janet Mills because it did not include an exemption for a data center project in a town that has faced economic hardship. 

Pennsylvania boasts more than 100 data centers, and more investment is planned. The House passed a bill in March that seeks to prevent a rise in electricity costs as more data centers move into the state. It gives the Public Utility Commission greater authority to require data centers to pay security deposits and requires them to obtain an increasing share of their energy from “clean energy” sources. At the moment, other bills are on the table with bipartisan support, but Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman doesn’t seem inclined to push much to get the bills on the Senate floor. The Senate may have its own ideas about how to roll data center parameters into a single piece of legislation, as Pittman has said he wants to address the issue “holistically.” It remains to be seen whether Pennsylvania will institute a moratorium or if the potential economic benefits of data centers will prevail. 

Data centers aside, Pennsylvania is undoubtedly impacted by the surface transportation bill that’s making its way through Congress this week. Pennsylvania sits at a key point in Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, and stands to benefit directly from the bill’s $65 billion allocation program. Historically, this type of rail funding has been planned to improve service by connecting cities like Scranton, Reading, and Allentown to places like NYC or Washington, and helps to increase train frequency. We’ll be watching to see what Amtrak and Pennsylvania announce after the bill is signed. 

It’s not just Amtrak that operates on Pennsylvania’s railways, though—moving goods is something the state’s infrastructure supports, too. The Railway Safety Act, though not currently included in the bill, would mandate new requirements for trains carrying hazardous materials and increase inspection standards. The infamous “Altoona Curve” has seen its fair share of train derailments, and it, coupled with the tragic accident in East Palestine, prompted the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission to recommend that the state strengthen some of its safety requirements, many similar to those in the nationwide Railway Safety Act. We’ll keep an eye on how this legislation moves and what it means for Pennsylvania’s infrastructure. 

The primary race was yesterday. If you’re interested in a breakdown of what happened here in Pennsylvania, be sure to follow our other newsletter, The Bellevue Bulletin to get it in your inbox tomorrow!

What We’re Watching

Did you know? Amtrak’s oldest station is here in Lewistown, PA, originally opened back in 1848. 

Till next time,