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AED Highway Reauthorization Action Center

Since the current highway law (SAFETEA-LU) expired on Sept. 30, 2009, the highway program has been operating under a series of short-term extensions. The most recent extension expires on June 30, 2012. The uncertainty surrounding reauthorization has hit the construction industry hard. Without a clear sense of what resources will be available for future investment, states have not been able to plan major new projects. As a result, contractors are not hiring new workers or buying equipment.

After more than two years of inaction, there are signs of progress on the highway reauthorization front. On March 14, 2012, the Senate passed its version of a new bill, approving Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21) (S. 1813) 74-22. Meanwhile, in the House, representatives have been debating how to move that chamber forward on its proposed surface transportation plan, the American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act (H.R. 7).

To weigh in with your elected officials and urge them keep the process moving, go to:
http://www.aedaction.org.

We strongly urge Congress to complete a multiyear highway reauthorization law prior to the June 30 extension of current law and to find fiscally responsible ways to ensure the long-term integrity of the Highway Trust Fund, restore transparency to the highway program, and to rebuild our nation's crumbling infrastructure.

In order for the U.S. to remain competitive in the coming years, Congress must make an adequately funded multi-year highway reauthorization bill an immediate priority.
  • A recent AED-commissioned study carried out by the College of William & Mary's Thomas Jefferson Program in Public Policy has confirmed that investments in infrastructure yield important economic benefits and will essentially pay for themselves in the long run. The study found that each dollar spent on infrastructure investments generated $1.92 in direct and indirect economic output over a two-year period. Over a 20-year period, each dollar spent will generate 96 cents in tax revenue.
  • TRIP, a national transportation research group, reports that 32 percent of America's major roads are in poor or mediocre condition, that 24 percent of our bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete, and that 44 percent of our major urban highways are congested. Driving on roads in need of repair costs U.S. motorists $67 billion a year in extra vehicle repairs and operating costs – $324 per motorist.
  • The Texas Transportation Institute, one of the nation's leading authorities on congestion issues, found that wasted fuel and lost productivity due to traffic congestion cost the U.S. economy more than $100 billion in 2010. Congestion wastes 1.9 billion gallons of fuel, 34 hours of the average American commuter's time, and costs auto commuters approximately $710 annually.
  • A Federal Highway Administration study concludes that each $1 billion of federal spending on highway construction nationwide generates 30,000 jobs, including 10,300 in the construction sector, 4,675 jobs in industries supporting the construction sector, and approximately 15,000 other jobs induced in non-construction related sectors of the economy.
  • Highway investment has a significant impact on the economic health of the equipment industry. Professor Stephen Fuller of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, estimated that 6.4 cents of every dollar spent on highway construction is spent at equipment dealerships and that the equipment market impact of the $39.1 billion 2007 federal highway program was $2.5 billion.
While the U.S. economy may be recovering from a recession, the construction industry remains mired in a depression. Recent bureau of labor statistics show that the number of unemployed construction
Check in with Our Allies

AED works with a variety of allied partners and coalitions in the fight to reauthorize the federal highway program. Check out these sites to see the actions of our leading coalition partners.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce

The Transportation Construction Coalition
(AED is a leading Coalition member)

Americans for Transportation Mobility
(AED is on the ATM steering committee)
workers remained above 16% throughout 2011, higher than any other sector of the economy.

A robust highway bill could put the American economy on a surer fiscal path and lay a solid foundation for economic growth, including substantial job growth. That means it is 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.

This will be a challenging task. In the same way that the health care debate consumed all the political oxygen on Capitol Hill during the last Congress, this time around lawmakers are laser-focused on budget issues. And that comes at the expense of many other important issues, including infrastructure investment. The nation's fiscal crisis has put all spending in the crosshairs.

Despite these challenges, reauthorization of the highway program and the development of a stable revenue stream for surface transportation investments remain more critical than ever before.

That's because in recent years, annual federal highway appropriations have exceeded the highway user fee revenues to the Highway Trust Fund (HTF). As a result, $35 billion has been transferred from the general fund to the HTF over the life of SAFETEA-LU (the most recent multiyear highway law). Many in Congress are determined to limit annual highway spending to the level the HTF can support.

Check in with Congress
For the latest congressional action on highway reauthorization, be sure to visit these websites:

House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee

House Subcommittee on Highways & Transit

House Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development

Senate Environment & Public Works Committee

Senate Subcommittee on Transportation & Infrastructure
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 equipment market impact of the $39.1 billion 2007 federal highway program was $2.5 billion.

Given the uphill battle AED and our construction industry allies face in getting lawmakers to focus on highway reauthorization, you might wonder if the association is going to turn its attention elsewhere. Absolutely not! We know a well-funded, multiyear surface transportation law is critical to your bottom line, important for our nation's economic competitiveness, and is the best way to put people back to work. And, despite the naysayers, we still think there's a chance to get a bill done this year.

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
Resources from AED

AED's statement on Senate passage of MAP-21

Read an AED-commissioned study by researchers at the College of William & Mary about the positive economic and tax revenue impact of infrastructure investment

Read AED's 2009 congressional testimony on the impact of the highway program on equipment distributors: http://www.aednet.org/government/pdf-2009/AED-TomKirchhoffSBCWrittenTestimonyonHighways-20090716.pdf

The 2009 resolution on highway reauthorization adopted by AED's Board of Directors: http://www.aednet.org/government/pdf-2009/aed-highway-reauth-res.pdf

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

A state-by-state analysis of the 2008 economic impact of the construction equipment industry from the AED and Associated Equipment Manufacturers led Start Us Up USA! grassroots action campaign: http://www.startusupusa.com/impact.cfm

A list of lawmakers who signed the 2010 Start Us Up USA! Infrastructure Campaign Pledge: http://www.startusupusa.com/campaign_pledge.cfm

Economic Research on the Need and Impact of Highway Funding

The 2011 Congested Corridors Report, detailing the costs of congestion on the nation's most traveled highways from the Texas Transportation Institute

The Association of Equipment Manufacturers revenue-neutral proposal for rebuilding and modernizing America's interstates without raising the gas tax, Modernizing U.S. Surface Transportation System: Inaction Must Not Be an Option

Falling Apart and Falling Behind, a report from Building America's Future laying out the economic challenges posed by ailing infrastructure

The American Society of Civil Engineers report, Failure to Act: The Economic Impact of Current Investment Trends in Surface Transportation Infrastructure

Read the Bipartisan Policy Center's recommendations for infrastructure investment, Performance Driven: Achieving Wiser Investment in Transportation

The Mineta Transportation Institute report examining public opinion of tax options for raising federal transportation revenues, What Do Americans Think About Federal Transportation Tax Options? Results From Year 2 of a National Survey

The State of the Union's Roads: An Investigative Report, from Car & Driver

A report from the Associated General Contractors, The Case for Infrastructure Reform

Read Infrastructure 2011: A Strategic Priority, a report by the Urban Land Institute that finds U.S. infrastructure needs top $2 trillion and that expanding and enhancing our deteriorating transportation network is essential to remaining globally competitive

A report on the economic impact of congestion from the Texas Transportation Institute

Publications and statistics from the Federal Highway Administration

Read the Transportation Construction Coalition's report on the nexus between highway investment and driver safety.

A study from the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis examining the public health costs of traffic congestion.

A performance index rating how well transportation infrastructure meets national demand and correlates to U.S. economic performance from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce:

An state-by-state analysis of highway conditions and needs from The Road Information Program (TRIP)

Additional research reports from TRIP: http://www.tripnet.org/research.htm

The National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission's report explaining the need for a gas tax increase

A report from the Congressional Budget Office detailing alternative approaches to funding highways exploring the consequences and practicality of fuel taxes vs. a vehicle miles traveled (VMT) tax: http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/121xx/doc12101/03-23-HighwayFunding.pdf

Read the 2009 report, "How Infrastructure Investments Support the U.S. Economy: Employment, Productivity, and Growth"

Congressional and Administration Documents and Proposals for the 112th Congress

The American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act (H.R. 7), the House GOP highway reauthorization proposal linking infrastructure spending to domestic energy production

Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21) (S. 1813), the two year bipartisan reauthorization approved by the Senate

A report from the Congressional Budget Office to the Senate Finance Committee reviewing the status of the Highway Trust Fund, "The Highway Trust Fund and Paying for Highways"

President Obama's Fiscal Year 2012 Department of Transportation Budget Highlights: http://www.dot.gov/budget/2012/fy2012budgethighlights.pdf

A New Economic Analysis of Infrastructure Investment, a report from the Treasury Department and the Council of Economic Advisers detailing the positive impacts of acting now to increase infrastructure investment

Act
See how members of your congressional delegation voted on recent infrastructure legislation: http://capwiz.com/aedaction/keyvotes.xc/?lvl=C

Send an e-mail to Congress using AED's online legislative action center:
http://capwiz.com/aedaction/issues/?style=D

For a letter to your representative you can copy onto your company letterhead and send to Capitol Hill, click here and follow these instructions:

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.
  5. Insert the representative or senators' address, fax number, and name into the letter along with your personal information at the appropriate location (indicated by CAPITAL LETTERS)
  6. Print your letter and fax it to the number indicated.
  7. Fax a copy to AED's Washington Counsel (703.739.9488)
If you have any questions about highway reauthorization or contacting Congress, please contact AED's Government Affairs Office at 703.739.9513 or aeddc@aednet.org.