The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced on Monday, April 6 – the day comments were due on its proposed local hire pilot program – to extend the comment period an additional 30 days through May 6, 2015.

With the May 31 deadline for MAP-21 highway and transit authorization fast approaching, now is the time for Congress to act. Join your construction peers at the Transportation Construction Coalition’s (TCC) 2015 Legislative Fly-In and make your voice heard. The meeting is scheduled for April 14-15 at the Capitol Hill Hyatt Regency located conveniently to Congressional offices to facilitate your visits. The hotel is now sold out, but several options are still available.

This week, the U.S. Department of Transportation transmitted to Congress the 2015 version of the GROW AMERICA Act – their surface transportation reauthorization proposal. The bill is very similar to the one that was sent to Congress last year, with the major exception being the length and levels of funding.

On March 5, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) established a pilot program that will allow state and local governments to use local geographic hiring preferences on their federal-aid highway and federal transit assisted contracts. The pilot program is effective immediately and will last one year. DOT also issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to make these changes permanent by altering existing Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) regulations. Read the pilot program proposal here and the Notice of Proposed Rule Making here.

Take Part in the Hardhats for Highways Ten-Week Grassroots Blitz

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) established a pilot program that will allow state and local governments to use local geographic hiring preferences on their federal-aid highway and federal transit assisted contracts. The pilot program is effective immediately and will last one year. DOT also issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to make these changes permanent by altering existing Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) regulations. Read the pilot program proposal here and the Notice of Proposed Rule Making here.

This week, AGC continued to push back on outside groups like Heritage Action and Club for Growth, who have been pushing a legislative proposal that would severely cut federal funding for state highway capital investments. The proposal known as the Transportation Empowerment Act (TEA Act) would decrease the federal gas tax from 18.4 cents per gallon to 3.7 cents per gallon over five years and result in states either raising their gas taxes or face steep cuts in their transportation programs.

New “e-Hardhat” Letters Available at www.HardhatsforHighways.org

#DriveBetterRoads: AGC Launches New Education, Advertising and Social Media Campaign to Boost Federal Highway Funding Visit www.DriveBetterRoads.org Today! On Tuesday, AGC launched a new nationwide advertising and education campaign to push for a boost in federal transportation spending called #DriveBetterRoads. The new effort is designed to help commuters and shippers understand how much they benefit from federal highway investments. The campaign is also focused on making sure these commuters and shippers understand that they can and should play a key role in pushing Washington to find a way to pay for road and bridge repairs for the long term. Congress and the Obama administration must figure out a way to fund needed highway and transit repairs before current legislation, and the federal funding that comes with it, expires on May 31.

With the May 31 deadline for reauthorization of the federal-aid highway and federal transit programs quickly approaching, finding a solution for keeping the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) solvent remains the biggest hurdle. Recently Sen. Finance Committee Chair Orin Hatch (R-Utah) – whose committee is responsible for finding revenue to finance the Highway Trust Fund – established a task force to recommend ways to keep the fund solvent. Chairman of the task force, Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.), said this week that his group plans to identify a funding mechanism that would support a five- to six-year authorization bill.