June 10-11, 2014 | The Mayflower Hotel, Washington, DC AGC urges its members to participate in this year’s Transportation Construction Coalition Fly-In and bring the message to Congress that: The Time is Now: Fix the Highway Trust Fund!  With the Highway Trust Fund projected to run short of cash as early as July 2014, slowing Federal reimbursements to state DOTs for ongoing contracts and the very real potential that there will be no federal funds available for new highway construction projects starting on Oct. 1, 2014 – Congress needs to hear from you.

Forty-five percent of highway contractors had motor vehicles crash into their construction work zones during the past year, according to the results of a new highway work zone study conducted by AGC.

Report Meetings and Share Pictures at www.HardhatsforHighways.org Your Senators and Representatives will be back working in your home districts April 14-25.  It is the perfect opportunity to set up meetings to discuss the importance federal highway funding has on your company and your job. We need to flood Congressional offices with in-person meetings where you present a company hardhat with the Hardhats for Highways decal.

This week, the House Budget Committee approved a budget for fiscal year 2015 on a partisan vote.  The budget is expected to be voted on by the full House next week.  This year’s House budget is somewhat unnecessary considering the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 – which became law in January – established spending totals and funding allocations for fiscal year 2015.  For this reason, the Senate is not planning on taking up a budget resolution this year.

AGC, along with a broad-based diesel coalition, sent letters to the HouseHouse and Senate Appropriations Committees encouraging them to include $30 million in their fiscal year 2015 funding bill for grants, loans, and rebates made possible by the Diesel Emission Reduction Act (DERA).  The program has an annual authorization of $100 million.

Report Meetings and Share Pictures at www.HardhatsforHighways.org With your Senators and Representatives working in their home states last week, it was the perfect opportunity to get involved in the Hardhats for Highways campaign and meet with your members of Congress.  Did you met with your local member of Congress in support of Hardhats for Highways? We want to hear about it – report your meetings on the Hardhats for Highways website.

This week, AGC and the Transportation Construction Coalition (TCC) are seeking input on how the looming Highway Trust Fund shortfall is impacting business decisions and state transportation programs.   This survey, along with the recently launched Highways for Hardhats campaign, is part of AGC’s continued efforts to raise awareness of the impacts of Highway Trust Fund’s revenue crisis.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) this week announced a proposal to require interstate commercial truck and bus companies to use Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs) in their vehicles to improve compliance with the safety rules that govern the number of hours a driver can work. The proposed rule would establish: (1) minimum performance and design standards for hours-of-service (HOS) electronic logging devices (ELDs); (2) requirements for the mandatory use of these devices by drivers currently required to prepare HOS records of duty status (RODS); (3) requirements concerning HOS supporting documents; and (4) measures to address concerns about harassment resulting from the mandatory use of ELDs. This rulemaking supplements the Agency’s Feb. 1, 2011, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) and addresses issues raised by the Federal Court of Appeals in its 2011 decision vacating the Agency’s April 5, 2010, final rule concerning ELDs. MAP-21 directed FMCSA to finalize a rule on ELDs.

Committees in the Senate and the House heard from the U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx and other DOT officials about their FY 2015 budget submission, MAP-21 reauthorization, and how they intend to administer highway and transit programs considering the pending insolvency of the Highway Trust Fund (HTF).

With the federal Highway Trust Fund projected to be unable to support any new highway, bridge or public transportation improvements in fiscal year 2015, the AGC co-chaired Transportation Construction Coalition (TCC) developed a new national grassroots campaign called “Hardhats for Highways.”  The campaign is designed to help educate Congress about the connection between local jobs and federal highway and transit investment. Since the launch of  “Hardhats for Highways”  last week in Las Vegas during CONEXPO/CONAGG, over 5000 “Hardhats for Highways” stickers have been requested.