Welcome to the NASHTU Website

The National Association of State Highway and Transportation Unions (NASHTU) is dedicated to ensuring that federal transportation dollars are spent on cost-effective, safe projects that serve the public interest.  NASHTU is comprised of 38 unions and associations representing hundreds of thousands of state and locally employed transportation engineers, construction managers and inspectors, technical workers and related public servants from throughout the United States.

NASHTU 14th Annual Conference -- May 6-8, 2013

The 14^th Annual NASHTU Conference was a great success!  We were privileged to hear from the Ranking Member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Nick Rahall (D-WV) and many of his colleagues on the committee including Donna Edwards (D-MD), John Garamendi (D-CA), Rick Larsen (D-WA), and Rick Nolan (D-MN).  In addition, the US DOT Deputy Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy, Beth Osborne addressed the conference. 

The agenda was also full of informative and interesting panel discussions.  Most valuably, we heard from a variety of good government groups and people in the education community who advocate many principles similar to NASHTU.  They will be important allies for NASHTU member unions to draw upon when fighting outsourcing at home and for NASHTU to utilize while fighting for public inspection and cost comparison prior to outsourcing at the federal level.    

If you attended the NASHTU Conference, thank you for joining us!  If you didn’t make it, please consider attending the conference next year (TENTATIVE DATES: APRIL 28-30, 2014).  Visit the NASHTU Conferences Page for links to presentations and a photo slide show of the conference.  For the first time, we also filmed the NASHTU conference this year.  The video clips are currently in the editing process but will soon be added to the website for viewing.

Click here for the NASHTU Conference Agenda

MAP-21 Era to Begin July 1

The House and Senate both passed the new Surface Transportation Authorization (Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act or MAP-21) today and sent it to the President for his signature. 

The new authorization (H.R. 4348) totals $120 billion that will fund transportation programs at current levels plus inflation until September 2014. The bill includes $27.2 billion in spending that is in excess of anticipated Highway Trust Fund revenues. The shortfall will be covered through a variety of accounting maneuvers to increase general fund revenues. 

Critics of the bill are calling it a “band-aid” that does nothing to fix transportation funding shortfalls and are asking Congress to use the next 27 months to raise gas taxes or fundamentally change the way transportation programs are funded. 

News Stories

• Obama to Nominate Anthony Foxx as Transportation Secretary
  April 28, 2013 (Reuters) — President Barack Obama plans to nominate on Monday Charlotte, North Carolina, Mayor Anthony Foxx to be his next transportation secretary, a White House official said on Sunday. Read the full story.
  

• Obama wants $50B for roads, $40B for rail, MAP-21 extension in 2014 budget
  April 10, 2013 (The Hill) — President Obama's 2014 budget proposal calls for Congress to approve $50 billion in immediate spending on U.S. highways and $40 billion on long-distance railways. Read the full story.
  

• I will not serve a second term; but we have more work to do
  January 29, 2013 (USDOT) — One of the best things about the four years that I (USDOT Secretary Ray LaHood) have served in this office is the ability to share the achievements of DOT with readers of this blog. It's no secret that I value the work we do here, and it has been a pleasure to demonstrate that twice daily on the Fast Lane. Read the full story.
  

• Deficit-Reduction Talks May Fuel Gas Tax Increase
  December 6, 2012 (Fed Watch) — Leaders of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will try to introduce a new surface transportation bill at the very onset of 2014, according to a committee aid who outlined the expected timeline of the legislation. Read the full story.
  

• Raise Gas Taxes, Avoid the Fiscal Cliff?
  November 27, 2012 (U.S. News and World) — A group of natural gas and oil organizations sent a letter to members of Congress Tuesday morning, urging them to think twice before leveling any tax increases on the industry as part of fiscal cliff negotiations. Read the full story.
  

• WHY IT MATTERS: Creaky bridges, potholed roads, tricky politics
  October 23, 2012 (Washington Post) — From bridges to broadband, America’s infrastructure is supposed to be speeding along commerce, delivering us to work and piping energy and water into our homes and businesses. But just repairing all the breakdowns and potholes would cost tens of billions more than we’re currently spending each year. Read the full story.
  

• MDOT worker: Michigan needs more transparency in awarding state contracts to private firms
  August 13, 2012 (Michigan Live) -- GRAND RAPIDS, MI — Contractors often are employed by government agencies looking to pare down costs during rough economic times. John Eck would tell a different tale.  Eck, a technician with the Michigan Department of Transportation and member of the Service Employees International Union Local 517M, argued in an editorial submitted to MLive.com that contractors can wind up costing the state more than its own workers would. Read the full story.
  

• Rahm Emanuel's Chicago Plan For Infrastructure Wins Thumbs Up From Mayors
  July 23, 2012 (Huffington Post) -- In a Friday news release, Michael Nutter, president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and mayor of Philadelphia, applauded the Chicago Infrastructure Trust for "looking outside the box" for ways to finance transportation improvements. The trust, passed in April by the Chicago City Council, seeks to secure $1.7 billion from private investors to modernize what Mayor Rahm Emanuel has deemed the city's "crumbling infrastructure." Read the full story.
  

• State's Suit Against Designer of 35W Bridge to go Forward
  May 29, 2012 (Minneapolis Star Tribune) -- The state's lawsuit against the designer of the collapsed Interstate 35W bridge can proceed, officials learned Tuesday. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal by California-based Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., linked to the 1960s design of the bridge that collapsed into the Mississippi River in 2007, killing 13 and injuring 145. Read the full story.
  

• House to Vote on Recommending a 31 Percent Cut in Transportation Funding
  June 1, 2012 (Transportation Issues Daily) -- The House has postponed a vote on a provision that would instruct its transportation bill negotiators to insist on reducing funding by nearly 31 percent. It will impact negotiations regardless of the outcome. Read the full story.
  

• Transportation conferees begin talks
  May 7, 2012 (Politico) -- Conferees are convinced this will be a “real conference” in which most issues won’t have to go to leadership, as was the case with parts of the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill. Read the full story.
  

• Senate approves 90-day highway extension; sending measure to President Obama
  March 29, 2012 (The Hill) -- The Senate approved the extension of federal highway funding that was passed by the House Thursday, accepting a short-term solution leaders in the chamber vehemently opposed.  Read the full story.
  

• House approves 90-day highway bill, dares Senate to reject it
  March 29, 2012 (The Hill) -- The House on Thursday morning approved a 90-day extension of federal highway programs over the objections of angry Democrats, a move that dares Senate Democrats to reject the bill just days before federal authorization expires.  Read the full story.
  

• Fight over transportation bills threatens highway projects
  March 27, 2012 (CNN) -- With just four days left before the federal money runs out for highway construction projects across the country, House Republicans abruptly postponed a vote on a two-month extension Tuesday, throwing into question how a standoff between Senate Democrats and House Republicans over the transportation bill will get resolved.  Read the full story.
  

• Extending SAFETEA-LU, Not Passing Multi-Year Bill, is Now Focus of Congress
  March 18, 2012 (Transportation Issues Daily) -- Congress will now turn its focus to extending SAFETEA-LU (which expires on March 31) and temporarily ignore passing a multi-year bill. No version of the House proposal or the Senate bill is scheduled for action this week or next week. The House has scheduled other legislation for action this week, and next week will be focused on 2013 budget issues.  Read the full story.
  

• Senate Transportation Bill Passes With Bipartisan Support 
  March 14, 2012 (Huffington Post) -- The Senate passed a two-year, $109 billion bipartisan transportation bill in a 74-22 vote Wednesday, handing Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) significant bragging rights in the race to pass election-year job-creation legislation. Now all eyes turn to the House of Representatives and Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), who has struggled to bring his own caucus to terms on a highway bill.  Read the full story.
  

• Transportation Experts Say Its Time To Replace, Or Supplement, Fuel Taxes 
  November 22, 2011 (CNN) -- Drivers often forget that they pay for highway construction and maintenance through federal fuel taxes: 18.4 cents per gallon for gasoline and 24.4 cents per gallon for diesel. "The notion that the road has ever been free is sort of a self-delusion," said Neil. But the fuel tax is running out of steam, experts warn, because more efficient vehicles are using less fuel and rising fuel prices discourage driving. As tax revenue falls, so does the nation's ability to pay for road construction and maintenance.  Read the full story.
  

• Obama Signs USDOT Funding into Law; Highway Limit Reduced Almost $2 Billion 
  November 18, 2011 (AASHTO Journal) -- President Barack Obama signed into law today a spending package that Congress passed Thursday, which includes Fiscal Year 2012 appropriations for the U.S. Department of Transportation.  Read the full story.
  

• Long road for highway bill
  November 9, 2011 (Politico) -- The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is set to mark up a two-year highway and transit bill Wednesday morning, and it should be a breeze. What happens after the markup is the big question.  Read the full story.
  

• Boehner: House Will Move Multiyear Bill by Year's End
  November 4, 2011 (AASHTO Journal) -- House Republicans will introduce a multiyear surface transportation reauthorization bill "in the coming weeks" and "hope to move the legislation through the House before the end of the year," House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, announced Thursday. The bill would expand domestic energy production to pay for transportation infrastructure, with funding levels likely to be at or above current levels.  Read the full story.
  

• Senate Blocks $60 Billion Infrastructure “Jobs Bill”; GOP Counters
  November 3, 2011 (Transportation Nation) -- The Senate blocked a politically-charged $60 billion infrastructure bill Thursday, continuing the partisan stand-off over transportation and jobs.  Read the full story.
  

• Senate to block competing infrastructure plans
  November 3, 2011 (Associated Press) -- President Barack Obama's campaign-style drive for another batch of economic stimulus spending is facing defeat yet again at the hands of Republicans in the Senate.  Read the full story.
  

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