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Senate Committee Talks Infrastructure Needs
Governors Sends List of Projects to White House
Although there is still no word out of the White House on the Administration's infrastructure investment plan, infrastructure continued to make news in the nation’s capital this week. The Senate Environment & Public Works (EPW) Committee held its first hearing of the new Congress, the National Governors Association (NGA) sent a list of 428 infrastructure projects to the White House, and Ranking Democrat on the House Transportation Committee Peter Defazio sent a letter to President Trump recommending three immediate actions that could be taken to provide funding for surface transportation, waterways, and airport construction projects. AGC will continue working with Congress and the administration to shape a plan that meets the investment needs for our nation’s infrastructure.
The Senate EPW hearing focused on “Modernizing our Nation’s Infrastructure” focused on the infrastructure needs of the country, particularly rural communities. Senators heard from witnesses representing public works agencies, including the heads of the Wyoming and Colorado Departments of Transportation. Similar to last week’s hearing in the House, there was consensus among witnesses and Senators that any new infrastructure plan must not only rely on private investment but must also include direct federal spending to meet the nation’s infrastructure needs in both urban and rural communities.
Bill Would Expand Buy America Requirements
Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL), a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, introduced a bill that would expand and tighten “Buy America” requirements that currently apply to Federal-aid highway contracts and federal transit grants to other federally funded programs including: airport projects funded with passenger facility charge (PFC) revenue (it currently applies to federal airport grant money), Safe Drinking Water Act revolving fund grants, federal loans from the Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF) program and several other programs. Buy America requires the use of domestically manufactured steel and iron products. The legislation directs FHWA to review whether or not to include manufactured products not containing iron or steel under its Buy America rules. The bill also directs US DOT to standardize the current process for granting waivers from the Buy America requirements amongst the various modal administrations.
AGC has had discussion with the FHWA and submitted comments on a rulemaking proposal to address issues related to manufactured products that contain steel or iron elements pointing out the difficulty of certifying that they are Buy America compliant. This legislation directs DOT to develop guidance on determining Buy America application to products that contain various steel and iron components. AGC will work to ensure that any new Buy America requirements are realistic and will not significantly undermine or delay construction of transportation facilities.
Join Us In Washington,D.C. For The Congressional Fly-InThis May 2017
2017 could be the year of infrastructure in Washington, D.C. President Trump highlighted rebuilding infrastructure during his campaign, again on election night and as part of his inauguration address. As we await details about the Trump Infrastructure Initiative, one thing is clear, the construction industry's involvement into its development and enactment by Congress is vitally important to its success. While the five-year "Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act," or FAST Act, provided sufficient revenue to support the funding levels authorized in the legislation through FY 2020, additional revenue will be needed to support a growing program into the future. It is important that the Administration and Congress receive the message that any infrastructure proposal must address the long term solvency of the Highway Trust Fund. The 16th Annual Transportation Construction Coalition (TCC) Legislative Fly-In, scheduled for May 17-18, 2017 is well-timed to provide an opportunity for that input. OCA staff and members will be attending, and we urge you to join us.
At the TCC legislative briefing you will receive information about what policy and funding proposals are being considered. You will hear from key policy makers from Capitol Hill and the Administration and receive educational briefing materials on key industry priorities for your use in meeting with your congressional delegation. The Fly-In's reception will also provide you an opportunity to network with your industry peers and members of Congress and their staff.
The transportation construction industry cannot afford to miss this opportunity to help shape the future of our Nation's infrastructure investment.
Join hundreds of other industry leaders in delivering our message to Capitol Hill May 17-18 in Washington DC. This year's meeting will once again be held again at the Hyatt Regency Washington at 400 New Jersey Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20001. Make your reservations directly with the Hyatt Regency by calling 1-888-421-1442 or 1-202-737-1234. The room rate is $329 per night and the registration cut-off date is April 17.
If you have any questions about attending, please contact Angela Van Fossen, OCA’s Director of Legislative Affairs, at [email protected].
ODOT Budget Bill In House Finance Subcommittee
House Bill 26 (McColley, R-Napoleon), the ODOT budget bill, has been undergoing hearings this week in the Ohio House of Representatives. Director Wray has testified twice on the bill, which is the major funding and policy legislation for ODOT for the next two years.
The budget, as proposed by the Governor, contains a total of $6.5 billion in funding for fiscal years 2018 and 2019. Of that amount, $5.6 billion (86.2%) is appropriated for highway construction and maintenance. That breaks down to $3.31 billion for FY2018 and $3.19 billion for FY2019. Beyond funding for highway construction and maintenance, the rest of the budget goes to planning and research, public transit, aviation, debt service and administrative programs.
The bill proposes to increase change order limits that apply to competitively bid contacts. Under current law, the Director is permitted to increase the quantities of any item in a competitively bid contract as long as the additional cost doesn’t exceed the lesser of $100,000 or 5% of the total contract price. The bill raises those limits to $200,000 or 5%. It also modifies the exception to those limits. Under current law, the above limits do not apply to change orders or extra work contracts when the amount of the increase is $25,000 or less. The bill raises that amount to $50,000 or less.
The subcommittee will send the bill back to the full Finance Committee in the coming weeks for amendments and full committee vote.
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