Bills Introduced – 2-5-26
Yesterday with just the Senate in Washington, and the House meeting in pro forma session, there were 55 bills introduced. One of those bills will receive additional coverage in this blog:
HR 7390 SELF DRIVE Act of 2026 Latta, Robert E. [Rep.-R-OH-5]
Automated Driving Systems
I could find no legislation in the 118th Congress that would appear to be similar to HR 7390, but there was a similar bill (HR 3711) introduced in the 117th Congress by Latta. No action was taken in the House on the earlier bill. The text of HR 7390 is available, and it does include cybersecurity provisions, thus the coverage here.
MIP Legislation
I would like to mention in passing one bill that will not receive additional coverage in this blog:
HR 7405 To direct the Secretary of Energy to conduct a study on using highway rights-of-way and rail rights-of-way as locations on which to construct high-voltage transmission infrastructure, and for other purposes. Mullin, Kevin [Rep.-D-CA-15]
This sounds so simple and obvious that there has to be some underlying problem that has prevented this use to date. Which means that a formal study would be very useful in documenting any such impediment. To be fair, ‘simple and obvious’ solutions have long been overlooked in too many instances, so maybe there are not any serious reasons that this solution could not be used. It would certainly reduce the right-of-way costs and obviate many landowner objections.
While they are at it, they should also include utilizing the oversized medians on many federal highways as siting locations for solar or wind power installations. Solar power could also probably be sited under existing transmission lines, potentially easing some connectivity issues for such installations.