Rock Products is the aggregates industry's leading source for market analysis and technology solutions, delivering critical content focusing on aggregates-processing equipment; operational efficiencies; management best practices; comprehensive market
Issue link: https://rock.epubxp.com/i/77035
IN THE KNOW Industry Reacts to New Transportation Bill Industry reaction to the passage of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP‐21), the two‐year infrastructure bill just passed by Congress, was positive yet cautious. NSSGA Chairman Ron Summers, senior vice president, Materials Division, CalPortland Co., Glendora, Calif., hailed the action on MAP‐21 , thanking members of Congress for passing a legislative package that will fund the nation's roads, bridges and mass transit for the next 27 months. The bill assures the employment of three million Americans in the construction industry, where unemployment has outpaced the national rate. "This bill will help put the aggregates industry back on the road to economic growth," said NSSGA President and CEO Joy Pinniger. "Every $1 million in aggregates sales creates 19.5 jobs, and every dollar of industry output returns $1.58 to the economy." She noted that the bill includes historic reforms that consolidate pro‐ grams and eliminate program redundancies, as well as expediting the project approval process. "Both Republicans and Democrats deserve a lot of credit for the new surface transportation law the President signed today," said American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) Presi‐ dent and CEO Pete Ruane. "This law is going to restore public confidence in the federal highway and transit investment program. The bill assures the employ- ment of three million Ameri- cans in the construction industry, where unemployment has outpaced the national rate. "This wasn't business as usual, just 'rearranging the deck chairs,' adding pet programs and throwing money at congressional earmarks," Ruane said. "The new law is truly a 'good government' measure that makes the significant program reforms necessary to set the stage for meaningful, transparent and account‐ able federal transportation investments in the future. "The law has no congressional earmarks," he said. "It focuses federal dollars on meeting critical national needs like efficient freight movement and driving down the number of motor vehicle crashes that result in unnecessary American deaths and injuries. It elimi‐ nates, consolidates or streamlines dozens of pro‐ 10 ROCKproducts • AUGUST 2012 grams, giving state and local governments more deci‐ sion‐making control. It opens the door to more private investment in large, congestion‐busting transporta‐ tion projects. And, most importantly, it ushers in per‐ formance standards and reporting requirements so that the public will now know how their federal transportation dollars are being used and what kind of return on investment they are receiving." ARTBA Chairman Paul Yarossi, president of HNTB Hold‐ ings, Ltd., who attended the White House signing cere‐ mony with Ruane, announced the formation of an ARTBA industry task force to spearhead an effort to se‐ cure additional federal investment in transportation pro‐ grams as part of any new omnibus budget and tax reform legislation. The group will also work with federal and state agencies on implementation of the new law. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) applauded Con‐ gress for coming to agreement on MAP‐21. "We commend the leadership of House Speaker Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Reid for encourag‐ ing agreement on a bipartisan bill that will bring us 27 months of much needed funding certainty and program stability," said Kirk Steudle, Michigan Department of Transportation director and AASHTO president. "This agreement is a real credit to Senators Boxer, Baucus, Inhofe, Vitter, Rockefeller, Hutchison, John‐ son, and Shelby and their counterparts in the House – Representatives Mica, Rahall, Camp and Levin – who fought hard on behalf of our nation's transportation system," said John Horsley, AASHTO executive direc‐ tor. "These leaders showed real courage in moving the process forward to reach agreement when most peo‐ ple thought it was impossible to get there. "Action taken by the House and Senate to approve a multiyear surface transportation bill ensures that the nation's highway and transit programs will continue uninterrupted," Horsley continued. "Without this leg‐ islation, drastic cutbacks would have been necessary due to a revenue shortfall in the Highway Trust Fund. There are many things to like in this bill, including providing funding for surface transportation pro‐ grams at current levels and extending user fees and the Highway Trust Fund through Fiscal Year 2016. We also are pleased that the legislation includes needed reforms to stretch taxpayer dollars with expanded in‐ novative finance, improved efficiency with program consolidation, streamlined project delivery, and im‐ proved accountability with performance measures." www.rockproducts.com TOP NEWS FAST FACT