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AED Highway Reauthorization Action Center:
A Project of the AED Highway Infrastructure Taskforce

The U.S. economy may be in a recession, but the construction industry is in a depression. The Census Bureau reported on July 1 that construction spending in the first five months of 2009 was down more than 11 percent below the already anemic amount spent during the same period in 2008. That's taking a major toll on construction firms and the people they employ. Or rather, the people they used to employ: The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on July 2 that the construction industry unemployment rate is above 17 percent, higher than in any other sector of the economy.

And the worst part is that while the 111th Congress and the Obama administration fritter away valuable time and political capital on health care and climate change bills (which many believe will only add to our economic woes), highway reauthorization, a must-do piece of legislation that could get the construction industry back on track is stuck on the back burner.

SAFETEA-LU, the most recent multi-year highway spending law, expires on the Sept. 30. The Highway Trust Fund (HTF) (the primary vehicle for federal highway investment) is on the verge of bankruptcy and won't be able to support even current highway funding levels next year. And still our elected representatives fail to make highways a priority.

While it appears that health care and climate change will dominate the agenda for the rest of the year, there is a chance that congressional leaders will see the need to do something else to get the economy back on track. A robust highway bill could do just that, while also laying a solid foundation for future economic growth. That means it's up to us to continue to build the case for increased investment both inside the Beltway and back in the real world, including contacting your members of Congress to let them know how you feel about highway reauthorization.

Reauthorization of the highway program and ensuring the solvency of the HTF will provide a huge boost to the equipment industry. A recent study, authored by Professor Stephen Fuller of George Mason University, found that 6.4 percent of the average highway contractor's annual budget is attributable to equipment acquisition and dealer-performed maintenance costs. From this Fuller estimated that 6.4 cents of every dollar spent on highway construction are spent at equipment dealerships and that the market impact of the $39.1 billion 2007 federal highway program was $2.5 billion.

As the reauthorization process moves forward, AED members must actively engage with key audiences – including lawmakers and local business leaders – to make the case for increased infrastructure investment and for new user fee revenue streams to fund the highway program in a fiscally-responsible manner. This page is designed to be an online tool kit to help you do just that. We've provided resources to help you educate yourself about the highway debate and, just importantly, to educate others.

Thanks for your support and involvement.

Learn

To read AED's congressional testimony on the impact of the highway program on equipment distributors, click here:
http://www.aednet.org/government/pdf-2009/AED-TomKirchhoffSBCWrittenTestimonyonHighways-20090716.pdf
Watch video highlights of Testimony By Thomas Kirchhoff, Executive Vice President and COO, Cleveland Brothers Equipment Co., Inc., Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on behalf of The Associated Equipment Distributors before The U.S. House Of Representatives Committee on Small Business Subcommittee on Investigations And Oversight:


House Transportation Infrastructure Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar released an outline of his reauthorization proposal on June 17. Oberstar's plan would provide $337.4 billion for the highway program over six years. To read an executive summary of Oberstar's proposal, click here:
http://transportation.house.gov/Media/file/Highways/HPP/Surface%20Transportation%20Blueprint%20Executive%20Summary.pdf
To read the complete proposal, click here:
http://transportation.house.gov/Media/file/Highways/HPP/Surface%20Transportation%20Blueprint.pdf
To read the full bill text, click here:
http://transportation.house.gov/Media/file/Highways/HPP/OBERST_044_xml.pdf

For the resolution on highway reauthorization adopted by AED's Board of Directors on May 1, 2009, click here:
http://www.aednet.org/government/pdf-2009/aed-highway-reauth-res.pdf

To read the Transportation Construction Coalition's 2009 report on the nexus between highway investment and driver safety, click here:
http://www.aednet.org/government/pdf-2009/AED-TCCSafetyStudy-20090701.pdf

For the full study report authored by Professor Stephen Fuller of George Mason University on the market impact of highway infrastructure investment on the construction equipment industry, click here:
http://www.aednet.org/government/pdf-2008/Fuller-Report.pdf

For an analysis of highway conditions and needs in your state from TRIP, click here:
http://www.aednet.org/government/pdf-2009/AED-2009TRIPFactSheetsMarch09-20090420.pdf

For a report on the economic impact of congestion from the Texas Transportation Institute, click here:
http://mobility.tamu.edu/ums/

For the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission's report explaining the need to double investment in highway infrastructure, click here:
http://transportationfortomorrow.org/final_report/

For the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission's report explaining the need for a gas tax increase, click here:
http://financecommission.dot.gov/

For information about highway reauthorization from the Americans for Transportation Mobility (AED is a steering committee member of ATM), click here:
http://www.fasterbettersafer.org/

For more information about highway reauthorization from the Transportation Construction Coalition (AED is a leading member of TCC),click here:
http://www.transportationconstructioncoalition.org/index.htm

To see how members of your congressional delegation have voted on recent infrastructure legislation, click here:
http://capwiz.com/aedaction/keyvotes.xc/?lvl=C

Act

To send an e-mail to Congress using AED's online legislative action center, click here:
http://capwiz.com/aedaction/issues/alert/?alertid=13227521

For a draft "op ed" to send to your hometown newspaper, CLICK HERE.

To get media contact information in your state, CLICK HERE.

For a draft email to send your employees about highway reauthorization, CLICK HERE.

For a letter to your senators you can copy onto your company letterhead and send to Capitol Hill (instructions below), CLICK HERE.

For a letter to your representative you can copy onto your company letterhead and send to Capitol Hill (instructions below), CLICK HERE.

Instructions for sending letters to Congress:
  1. Copy the text of the letter onto your company's letterhead.
  2. Go to http://www.aedaction.org.
  3. Enter your zip code in the box on the right side of the screen.
    Click on the name of the representative or senator you wish to contact.
  4. Click on the "Contact" tab above the member of Congress' picture.
    Insert the representative or senators' fax number and name into the letter along with your personal information.
  5. Print your letter and fax it to the number indicated.
  6. Fax a copy to AED's Washington office (703.739.9488)
  7. If you have any questions about highway reauthorization or contacting Congress, please contact AED's Washington office at 703.739.9513 or aeddc@aednet.org.
Highway Infrastructure Taskforce (HIT) Members:

Thanks to the members of our Highway Infrastructure Taskforce for providing the resources to support AED's leadership in the highway reauthorization debate.

To date, thirteen companies – Arnold Machinery, Bramco, Cleveland Bros., Cowin Equipment, Kirby-Smith Machinery, Inc., Ohio Machinery, Plasterer Equipment Company, ROMCO, Tractor & Equipment Company, Wagner Equipment Co., Whayne Supply Co., Wheeler Machinery, and Yancey Bros. Co. - have made multi-year commitments of as much as $20,000 to the HIT and have collectively pledged $118,500 per year to support AED's reauthorization activities.

If you have any questions about the highway reauthorization program or contacting Congress, please contact AED's Washington office at 703.739.9513 or aeddc@aednet.org.