1. March 12, 2013
Dear Senator:
We’re Building A
Better America!
American Road &
Transportation Builders
Association (co-chair)
Associated General Contractors
of America (co-chair)
American Coal Ash Association
American Concrete Pavement
Association American
Concrete Pipe Association
American Council of
Engineering Companies
American Subcontractors
Association American Iron
and Steel Institute American
Society of Civil Engineers
American Traffic Safety
Services Association Asphalt
Emulsion Manufacturers
Association Asphalt Recycling
& Reclaiming Association
Associated Equipment
Distributors Association of
Equipment Manufacturers
Concrete Reinforcing Steel
Institute International Slurry
Surfacing Association
International Association of
Bridge, Structural, Ornamental
and Reinforcing Iron Workers
International Union of Operating
Engineers LaborersEmployers Cooperation and
Education Trust Laborers’
International Union of North
America National Asphalt
Pavement Association
National Association of Surety
Bond Producers National
Ready Mixed Concrete
Association National Stone,
Sand and Gravel Association
National Utility Contractors
Association Portland Cement
Association
Precast/Prestressed
Concrete Institute The Road
Information Program United
Brotherhood of Carpenters and
Joiners of America
For More Information:
202/289-4434 (ARTBA)
703/548-3118 (AGC)
The 29 national associations and construction trade unions of the Transportation
Construction Coalition urge you to support H.R. 933, the Consolidated and
Further Continuing Appropriation Act of 2013. This measure, among other
things, fully adheres to the surface transportation investment commitments
Congress made when it overwhelmingly passed the Moving Ahead for Progress
in the 21st Century (MAP-21) Act eight months ago.
MAP-21 ended nearly three years of temporary extensions and, in so doing,
sought to provide needed certainty for state departments of transportation and the
private sector. The two-year surface transportation program authorization
contained overdue reforms to make these federal highway and public
transportation programs more efficient and to maximize the impact of federal
investments.
MAP-21 also ensured the Highway Trust Fund has sufficient resources to support
the surface transportation investment levels that will simply keep pace with
inflation in FY 2013 and FY 2014. As a result of the measure’s self-sustaining
investment and revenue provisions and its common sense policy reforms, MAP21 earned substantial bipartisan support in both the House (373-52) and Senate
(74-19).
The bipartisan product from the Senate Appropriations Committee is to be
commended for following through on the investment commitments made by
MAP-21. The continuing resolution for the first six months of FY 2013 and the
House-passed measure for the remainder of the year would hold these programs
at the FY 2012 levels. By maintaining the purchasing power for federal highway
and public transportation investments, the Senate continuing resolution would
help preserve jobs in the construction industry that is still struggling with
unemployment levels nearly twice the national average.
While we acknowledge MAP-21 is a short-term solution to the nation’s long-term
infrastructure challenges, it is a step in the right direction and deserves a chance
to deliver results. As such, we urge you to support the Senate version of H.R.
933 and the full-funding of MAP-21 in FY 2013.
Sincerely,
The Transportation Construction Coalition