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Last week, U.S. DOT sent Congressional committees its proposal for an 18 month extension of authorization for federal surface transportation programs. Calling the proposal "Stage I Reauthorization," the administration asked for a $20 billion general fund transfer to keep both the federal-aid highway program and the federal transit program solvent through March 31, 2011.  The administration's proposal also calls for a series of policy changes that would begin to implement changes in the way these programs are administered.Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Ranking Republican Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) and several other committee members expressed support for providing the necessary funds and authorization to keep the programs operating for the next eighteen months, but opposed adopting any policy changes at this time. Members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, led by its bipartisan leadership, spoke out strongly against an 18 month extension, preferring to continue its effort to enact a full six year reauthorization measure. Consideration of the short term extension may be brought up as part of the DOT appropriations bill, which will be considered by the Senate Appropriations Committee when Congress returns next week.The Highway Trust Fund will be short of cash needed to reimburse states for ongoing construction projects as early as the first week of August and will have insufficient revenue in FY 2010 (beginning October 1, 2009) to maintain the program at its current funding level. The administration originally said that the general fund transfer necessary to solve this problem had to be offset with other spending cuts or tax increases. However, in today's proposal, the administration calls for the transfer to be paid for over ten years through a variety of options, including an international tax enforcement proposal.The policy recommendations are focused on beginning to implement the administration's objective of using transportation investment to create more "livable communities." Today's proposal calls for funding to allow states and localities to collect comprehensive transportation data to be used for making future transportation choices, develop standards for comparing different transportation modes and create stronger reporting and tracking requirements for  transportation investments.The administration's proposal also gives details on its proposal for a National infrastructure Bank to support regionally and nationally significant, high value transportation projects. The administration requests $2 billion in funding to initially capitalize the bank, which would provide financing assistance for relatively large and transformative projects that are currently underfunded. These could include freight and passenger rail, highway projects that consider land use and economic development and bridge construction that includes a rail line and harbor dredging.For more information, contact Brian Deery at (703) 837-5319 or deeryb@agc.org.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has informed ÐßÐßÊÓƵ that contractors working on federally-assisted contracts for projects funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) are not required to meet executive compensation reporting requirements.Provisions in the ARRA law require direct recipients and their subrecipients of stimulus funds to report the total annual compensation of the five most highly compensated officers of the company. ÐßÐßÊÓƵ questioned whether this was intended to apply to contractors working on federally-assisted projects funded with ARRA funds. As a result, DOT asked the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to clarify the application of these provisions. OMB, which is charged with issuing guidance for federally assisted contracts under this program, advised DOT that for federally-assisted projects, the reporting requirements on executive compensation apply only to direct recipients and their subrecipients. The executive compensation requirements do not apply to contractors working for either the recipient of federal financial assistance or its subrecipient. FHWA and FTA will provide guidance to their division offices clarifying these requirements.Contractors working on direct contracts with the federal government are covered under guidance issued by the Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) Council, which calls for reporting of this information.Read more on OMB guidance here.For more information, contact Brian Deery at (703) 837-5319 or deeryb@agc.org.

Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood introduced the newest "Voice of the Recovery Act" in his blog, Welcome to the Fast Lane.  Alison Barber was hired by ÐßÐßÊÓƵ and Colorado Contractors Association member Castle Rock Construction Company to work as construction manager on the C-470 road and bike path repair project outside Denver.

ÐßÐßÊÓƵ is calling on Congress to enact a short term fix to the Highway Trust Fund to ensure that FHWA have sufficient funds to reimburse states for ongoing construction projects through the end of FY 2009. ÐßÐßÊÓƵ is also calling on Congress to pass a six year reauthorization bill with increased funds to support a long term program to address the growing transportation investment deficit. Please visit ÐßÐßÊÓƵ's Legislative Action Center through the link below to send this message to your Congressional delegation.http://www.bipac.net/issue_alert.asp?g=ÐßÐßÊÓƵ&issue=HTF&parent=ÐßÐßÊÓƵ

U.S. DOT today sent Congressional committees its proposal for an 18 month extension of authorization for federal surface transportation programs. Calling the proposal "Stage I Reauthorization," the administration asked for a $20 billion general fund transfer to keep both the federal-aid highway program and the federal transit program solvent through March 31, 2011.  The administration's proposal also calls for a series of policy changes that would begin to implement changes in the way these programs are administered. Last week Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Ranking Republican Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) and several other committee members expressed support for providing the necessary funds and authorization to keep the programs operating for the next eighteen months, but opposed adopting any policy changes at this time. Members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, led by its bipartisan leadership, spoke out strongly against an 18 month extension, preferring to continue its effort to enact a full six year reauthorization measure. Consideration of the short term extension may be brought up as part of the DOT appropriations bill, which will be considered by the Senate Appropriations Committee when Congress returns next week.The Highway Trust Fund will be short of cash needed to reimburse states for ongoing construction projects as early as the first week of August and will have insufficient revenue in FY 2010 (beginning October 1, 2009) to maintain the program at its current funding level. The administration originally said that the general fund transfer necessary to solve this problem had to be offset with other spending cuts or tax increases. However, in today's proposal, the administration calls for the transfer to be paid for over ten years through a variety of options, including an international tax enforcement proposal.The policy recommendations are focused on beginning to implement the administration's objective of using transportation investment to create more "livable communities." Today's proposal calls for funding to allow states and localities to collect comprehensive transportation data to be used for making future transportation choices, develop standards for comparing different transportation modes and create stronger reporting and tracking requirements for  transportation investments.The administration's proposal also gives details on its proposal for a National infrastructure Bank to support regionally and nationally significant, high value transportation projects. The administration requests $2 billion in funding to initially capitalize the bank, which would provide financing assistance for relatively large and transformative projects that are currently underfunded. These could include freight and passenger rail, highway projects that consider land use and economic development and bridge construction that includes a rail line and harbor dredging.

The Transportation Construction Coalition (TCC) today released the results of a national study conducted by the Pacific Institute for Research & Evaluation (PIRE) that found that more than half of highway fatalities are related to deficient roadway conditions.  Titled "On a Crash Course: The Dangers and Health Costs of Deficient Roadways," the study found the $217 billion cost of deficient roadway conditions dwarfs the costs of other safety factors, including:  $130 billion for alcohol, $97 billion for speeding, or $60 billion for failing to wear a safety belt.  Indeed, the $217 billion figure is more than three-and-one-half times the amount of money invested annually by government at all levels in roadway capital improvements - $59 billion, according to the Federal Highway Administration. TCC released the study at a news conference held at a D.C.-area construction site managed by ÐßÐßÊÓƵ member company Jacobs. The TCC is co-chaired by ÐßÐßÊÓƵ and the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA).  Speakers at the news conference included the safety economist who undertook the study and an emergency room doctor.

The Transportation Construction Coalition (TCC), co-chaired by ÐßÐßÊÓƵ, today released a new report that shows the $217 billion cost of deficient roadways, far outweighing costs of other safety factors.

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee released details of reauthorization legislation, the Surface Transportation Authorization Act of 2009. The legislation is a 6-year $500 billion committee draft that would replace the current authorization, SAFETEA-LU, which is due to expire on September 30, but does not identify a method for funding.The Chairman of the Committee, James Oberstar (D-Minn.), introduced the full authorization legislation Monday and billed it as a transformation in the way the federal government funds the nation's transportation infrastructure.  Meanwhile, the Obama Administration has called for an 18-month extension of SAFETEA-LU.Preliminary documents were released last week and the committee released a draft version of the bill on Monday.  A blueprint for investment and reform, a framework of principles for federal surface transportation and an executive summary, as well as the current bill draft, are all available on the ÐßÐßÊÓƵ Web site.The committee draft of the legislation indicates a reduced number of federal programs but keeps most of the eligibility for them.  It does not address any specifics on formula funding. The blueprint states that there would be project streamlining, but new environmental concerns exist, such as carbon reduction and livability. Finally, the plan would centralize national planning to include all transportation modes. ÐßÐßÊÓƵ staff is currently reviewing the bill language to determine its impact on construction.The subcommittee is planning a markup of the legislation Wednesday, June, 24, and full committee may markup the bill in July. The Ways and Means Committee will hold a series of hearings in the next five weeks to consider funding options.For more information, contact Jeff Shoaf at (202) 547-3350 or shoafj@agc.org.

Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Ranking Republican Jim Inhofe (R-OK) indicated today their support for an 18 month extension of authorization for the federal highway and transit programs which expire on September 30, 2009. The EPW Committee leaders made their comments to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood during a committee hearing on the status of stimulus funded transportation projects. Sec. LaHood last week made a surprise announcement that the Administration favors passing a short term extension of authority for the transportation programs and using that legislation to provide additional revenue for the Highway Trust Fund to ensure that sufficient revenue is available for states to pay for on-going highway and transit construction projects. Senators Boxer and Inhofe both indicated, however, that they would not support the Administration additional recommendation to include some of its policy objectives in the short term extension.At a hearing in the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee at the same time the bipartisan leadership of the committee said they do not favor the short term extension and will continue to work to enact a six year authorization. The committee leaders indicted that a short term extension would undermine the effort to create jobs and promote long term economic growth that has resulted from the stimulus funding. The committee leadership met separately with ÐßÐßÊÓƵ and the transportation community requesting our support of the long term extension.

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Highways and Transit on Wednesday reported out the Surface Transportation Authorization Act of 2009 a six-year reauthorization of the federal highway and transit programs to replace SAFETEA-LU which expires on September 30, 2009. While there were as many as 30 proposed amendments pending, and several were discussed, the Committee's bipartisan leadership supported a strategy to not vote on amendments, making the bill available for further discussion with the intent of having the full T&I Committee mark up the bill in July.The legislation calls for investment of nearly $450 billion, $337.4 billion for federal highways (a $110 billion increase) and $99.8 billion to transit (a $47.3 billion increase). This 77-23 percent split between highway and transit funding alters the traditional 80-20 proportions. The measure would also provide $50 billion for high-speed passenger rail initiatives to be funded outside the Highway Trust Fund. Details on funding levels for various programs and how the funds are to be distributed are not included in the proposal. Also not included in the legislation is how to provide the needed revenue. Jurisdiction for addressing the revenue side of the equation falls with the House Ways and Means Committee which will be holding a series of hearings over the next several weeks. The legislation also consolidates and eliminates a number of existing programs and creates several new initiatives.