Week ahead: Driverless car debate moves to Senate

The Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday will hold a hearing on self-driving trucks following the House’s passage of what could become the first set of laws governing autonomous vehicles.

The panel will hear from labor groups, safety advocates, law enforcement and the auto industry about the potential benefits and drawbacks of boosting the self-driving truck industry.

The House bill passed on Wednesday would allow manufacturers to deploy up to 100,000 autonomous cars a year that are exempt from normal safety standards.

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However, commercial vehicles like trucks were not covered in that legislation and labor groups are hoping that the Senate leaves it out of any companion legislation that it puts forth. They worry about automation costing truck drivers their jobs.

“The exemption for commercial vehicles must be clarified prior to final passage,” James P. Hoffa, the general president of Teamsters International, said in a statement after the House vote.

“We look forward to working with members of both parties to ensure that workers and the motoring public will have the safe and reliable transportation system they deserve, both today and far into the future.”

A Senate Commerce aide said that the panel may release draft legislation ahead of Wednesday’s hearing.

The House bill, called the Self Drive Act, would preempt state laws governing the deployment of driverless technology. Industry has been pushing for a national set of regulations to avoid having to navigate a messy patchwork of state laws.

Also at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on the long-term impacts of immigration, focusing on both guest worker programs like H-1B visas and the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy.

The hearing comes after the Trump administration announced that it would be ending DACA and as Congress considers reviving the Dream Act to protect from deportation approximately 800,000 people brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

Tech companies have been vocal in defending DACA and visas for high-skilled workers.

There are also a number of other tech-focused hearings in Congress’ second week back from recess.

Lawmakers had expected the month to be dominated by a fight over government spending and the debt limit. But a surprising deal cut by President Trump and Democratic leaders provides more funding for Hurricane Harvey relief, raises the debt ceiling and will fund the government through mid-December.

On Tuesday, the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee will hold a hearing on the resiliency of America’s electrical grid at 10:00 a.m. Experts have raised concerns the grid is aging and susceptible to a wide range of threats.

At the same time, the House Energy and Commerce Committee will hold a hearing on “defining reliability in a transforming electricity industry.”

On Wednesday, The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will hold a hearing regarding economic stakeholders’ perspectives on infrastructure. Talks about an infrastructure package have stalled, however, the Trump administration insists it remains a top priority.

On Thursday, The House Small Business Committee will hold a hearing on how the Small Business Administration’s Entrepreneurial Development programs have evolved with technology at 10:00 a.m.

On Thursday, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai will come to the Hill. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will hold a hearing on the FCC Lifeline program, which subsidizes high-speed internet access for low-income households, focusing on a Government Accountability Office report that highlights mismanagement and waste within the program.

Pai quickly began to make changes to the program after taking over the agency this year, including removing nine service providers from Lifeline.

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