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With the May 31 deadline for reauthorization of the federal-aid highway and federal transit programs quickly approaching, finding a solution for keeping the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) solvent remains the biggest hurdle. Recently Sen. Finance Committee Chair Orin Hatch (R-Utah) – whose committee is responsible for finding revenue to finance the Highway Trust Fund – established a task force to recommend ways to keep the fund solvent. Chairman of the task force, Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.), said this week that his group plans to identify a funding mechanism that would support a five- to six-year authorization bill.

This week, the ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø-led Transportation Construction Coalition (TCC) sent a letter to the House and Senate Budget Committees urging them to address the looming insolvency of the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) in their fiscal year 2016 budget resolutions.

Repatriation and Transportation Financing are the Focus This week, two congressional committees held hearings exploring the use of repatriation to fill the Highway Trust Fund revenue gap and additional financing for transportation infrastructure, respectively. Congress must identify sources of revenue to fill the gap and pass a long-term transportation bill before the end of July, when the current extension expires, in order to keep highway & bridge construction projects running. ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø continues to push for a permanent fix for the Highway Trust Fund and supports innovative financing options that would increase the use of public-private partnerships, among other measures, to address our nation’s transportation infrastructure needs.

This week, the Congressional Budget Office issued a report detailing public spending on transportation and water infrastructure from 1956 to 2014. The report showed that public spending on Transportation and Water Infrastructure has been fairly consistent as a share of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at about 2.4 percent, which is below the 3.0 percent peak in 1959. It did recently rise to 2.7 percent of GDP in 2009 and 2010 because of the increase in infrastructure investment under ARRA, which temporarily boosted infrastructure spending by $55 billion.

On Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed the Passenger Rail Reform and Investment Act of 2015 (PRRIA) by a vote of 316-101.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced a pilot program this week that will allow state and local governments to utilize local hiring preferences on their federal-aid highway and federal transit assisted contracts. The pilot program is effective immediately. In addition, DOT issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to alter Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) regulations that will make these changes permanent. DOT has provided a 30-day comment period on these changes.

Construction firms added 17,000 jobs in May and 273,000 over 12 months, as the sector's unemployment rate fell to 6.7 percent, the lowest May rate since 2006, according to an analysis by ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø. Association officials noted that the job gains come as the private and public sectors are increasing investments in construction services.

Yesterday, the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee held their second hearing as they look to complete a highway bill prior to the expiration of the current extension on May 31.

This week, a majority of the House sent a letter to Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) showing strong bipartisan support for passing a multiyear transportation reauthorization bill with a sustainable funding source. The letter – which was signed by nearly 300 members of the House – also calls for an end to the numerous short-term extensions of transportation authorization.

Participate in the TCC Fly-In, April 14-15 This spring, without help from Congress, funding for highway, bridge & transit construction projects is projected to once again run out.  Your company’s future is reliant on Congress finding a solution to the insolvency of the Highway Trust Fund.  Face-to-face visits with your senators and representative are critical to affecting change.