Tag: politics: Page 7

Business

Road builders, construction groups oppose bill to lower gas tax, surrender federal highway authority to states

Construction groups and transportation interests have written Congress to express opposition to the so-called “devolution” of the federal highway program and the proposed Transportation Empowerment Act. The bill, introduced in the House and Senate last fall, transfers almost all authority over federal highway and transit programs to the states over a five-year period. It would […]

September 18, 2014

Roadbuilding

FDOT removing campaign signs

The Florida Department of Transportation is starting to confiscate any campaign signs it finds illegally sitting on right-of-ways, or areas between the street and the sidewalk. FDOT will not destroy the signs, but they will be removed and taken to one of its operation centers. “Sometimes if they signs are large they become a sight-line issues […]

September 8, 2014

Business

Recent toll road poll proves nothing; private financing of public roads is still a bad idea

The Reason Foundation and the Alliance for Toll-Free Interstates recently traded jabs over a poll that purports to show Americans prefer toll roads as a solution to our declining transportation infrastructure. Not unexpectedly, the Reason-Rupe Poll  found favor with Reason’s longstanding position advocating toll roads. The Alliance shot back with a press release citing a […]

August 22, 2014

Roadbuilding

Will the Real Leader Please Stand Up on Nationwide Tolling?

It’s time to take a much closer look at tolling on a national level to fund our transportation infrastructure, but we will require leadership at a whole new level. The existing method, the gas tax, is obsolete. I won’t waste another word discussing why it’s broken because the design and construction industry has heard the […]

August 21, 2014

Business

Swift change in Ferguson a lesson in leadership: America needs more Andy Griffiths, fewer Jack Bauers

If you blinked you missed it, but yesterday Missouri Governor Jay Nixon gave the country one of the finest examples of leadership we have seen in a long time. If you run a business or any large organization where conflict occurs, it was a valuable learning moment. Nixon traveled to Ferguson, Missouri and put an […]

August 15, 2014

Construction Equipment

Senate bill would give natural gas trucks a weight exemption

The Senate this week introduced its version of a bill to cut natural gas-powered trucks a break, as it would give them an exemption to federal truck weight standards as a means to mitigate the weight of nat gas tanks and to prevent natural gas adopters from being at a competitive disadvantage. The bill (S.2721), introduced by […]

August 15, 2014

Business

Bursting bubble of big tobacco financing gives glimpse of road building’s future without a gas tax increase

Last week I wrote about how states that engage in public-private partnerships (P3s) and other types of debt and bond financing would create short term gains and long term disaster for the road building industry. This weekend I read an article on ProPublica, an independent journalism site, that shows how the exact same thing—only using […]

August 12, 2014

Business

Congressional showdown ends with Senate passing House’s $10.8 billion highway funding patch

The Senate on Thursday passed a 10-month funding bill that will prevent the Highway Trust Fund from going broke until the end of May. The bill was first passed by the House earlier this month, and is now just a presidential signature away from becoming law. The bill’s clearance in Congress comes after a showdown […]

August 1, 2014

Business

Senate passes highway bill with reduced funding; sends vote back to House with pressure for long-term solution

On Tuesday the Senate voted to pass a bill that would stave off the looming insolvency of the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) after making key changes to the legislation that will send it right back to the House for another vote. The HTF is the primary source of federal funding for road construction and repairs. The […]

July 30, 2014

Business

House passes $10.8 billion quick fix as highway construction funding nears insolvency

The House on Tuesday passed a nearly $11 billion quick fix that would stave off the looming insolvency of the Highway Trust Fund (HTF), the primary source of federal funding for road construction and repairs. The bill passed a week after the White House and transportation officials urged lawmakers to try and find a long-term […]

July 16, 2014

Business

Dire States hits the road to drum up support for Texas highway construction initiative

Nearly 180 years ago the toughest hombres ever to ride a horse and carry a rifle blazed a trail across Texas, conquering impossible odds to turn that hardscrabble land into one of the country’s most prosperous states. Today, if there are any hombres left, they’re probably stuck in traffic. One person who is helping build […]

July 15, 2014

Business

House panel’s proposed $10.5 billion stopgap for highway funding meets disapproval of Senators, AEM

The House Ways and Means Committee has proposed a stopgap to fund transportation projects for eight months, but Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) are opposing the plan. According to a report from The Hill, the Ways and Means Committee have proposed a $10.5 billion, eight-month funding bill that would extend transportation funding […]

July 10, 2014