The American Highway Users Alliance provides support and assistance to our members and interested highway groups throughout the country. We offer speakers, training, briefings, and materials on the key highway issues facing today's motorists. This section describes some of our activities.

Action Update

For the Month of January 2002

NGA Reauthorization Issues Addressed. The HwyUsers met with the Staff Director of the Economic Development and Commerce Committee of the National Governors’ Association (NGA) to discuss the activity level of NGA during the reauthorization of the highway bill. One of the key forces behind the increased funding levels of TEA 21 was the nation’s governors. The HwyUsers was told NGA would be an active leader during the reauthorization campaign in 2003-2004.

Action Update

For the Month of December 2002

Spreading the Word on Highways. We are working with the National Governors Association (NGA) and the National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL) to get our binders, The Road to Congress, to governors and state legislators who have a special interest in highways and TEA 21. The books will be distributed to NGA’s Economic Development & Commerce Committee, which has responsibility for developing the association’s policy on reauthorization. NCSL has agreed to provide us with the names of the transportation committee chairs and ranking mem- bers in all 50 state legislatures, so we can send the binders directly to the lawmakers. We are also exploring the possibility of providing the books to the U.S. Conference of Mayors. The binders were distributed to virtually every congressional candidate prior to the November election.

Action Update

For the Month of November 2002

State Highway Funding Examined. On Nov. 26, The HwyUsers met with the Michigan Roadbuilders to discuss highway apportionment formula issues. Michigan Roadbuilders are leading the charge among the donor states to increase the “minimum guarantee” that each state receives in highway funding. As a national organization with members from every state, The HwyUsers does not take any position on the formula that determines each state’s share of highway funding. However, with the change in leadership of the EPW Committee, the principal authors in the Senate of the six-year highway bill, Sen. Inhofe (R-OK) and Sen. Bond (R-MO), come from “donor” states – states that receive less money from the Highway Trust Fund than they deposit into the fund. This fact will likely help the donor states in their efforts to bring the highway funding formula issues to the forefront of the reauthorization debate.

Senate Power Shift Impact on Reauthorization Weighed. On Nov. 25, The HwyUsers participated in a teleconference with the South Dakota Highway Users to discuss the shift in power in the Senate and its effect on reauthorization of TEA 21. South Dakota is particularly affected by the election results because Democratic Sen. Tom Daschle will go from being majority leader to minority leader. However, Daschle will still have considerable leverage in the development of the bill. Congressional staff has informed The HwyUsers that, despite the shift in power, both the Senate and the House expect to consider reauthorization legislation, in the spring of 2003.

Action Update

For the Month of October 2002

Upcoming Reauthorization Discussed. We met with the Assistant Director of the United States Conference of Mayors responsible for transportation and highway issues to discuss common ground on TEA 21 reauthorization. The organization supports the existing funding firewalls, guaranteed spending levels, increasing the highway program to $41 billion by FY 2009 and reducing the backlog of substandard bridges. The HwyUsers meets regularly with various state and local government officials and their organizations to exchange views on issues of common concern. We have met with the National Governors’ Association, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and the National Conference of State Legislatures to discuss reauthorization of TEA 21.

Baucus Lauded for Streamlining Stance. When the head of the Montana Contractors’ Association in Helena needed a draft sample letter for a member of his state’s congressional delegation on environmental streamlining, we helped. Cary Hegreberg asked us to write a letter he could co-sign with a state organized labor official to Sen. Baucus (D-MT) thanking him for his leadership and support of environmental streamlining for highway projects.

Setting the Record Straight. In response to an editorial published in the Detroit Free Press on Oct. 24, The HwyUsers issued a letter-to-the-editor on behalf of the Michigan Roadbuilders. Entitled “Technology Can Do What More Concrete Can’t,” we warned against the assumption that there is a single panacea to solving traffic congestion. “Overcoming congestion will require a balanced program of transportation improvements.” We further stated that in some situations, concrete is needed to do what technology can’t, specifically highlighting the frustration of sitting in stop-and-go traffic while an overhead message offers the helpful alert “Congestion Ahead.”