Please use these specially-prepared resources to frame your discussions, to ask questions, and to learn what you might hear from your elected officials.
This page includes the latest information to provide a clear picture of key legislative and regulatory issues affecting the concrete pavement industry.
Here is a brief description of what you'll find below:
Other Ways to Help! ... Additional techniques and tips you can use to urge elected officials to take action on the highway bill (and funding) now.
Resource Center ... Here's some additiional background information to help you stay informed ... and to help you frame your discussions with your elected officials.
Hold a News Conference - Consider holding a news conference to push for Congressional support of a new highway and transit bill. Click here for talking points!
Post Messages to Your Social Networks - Social networks like Twitter, Facebook and Linked In offer a unique, and relatively low-cost opportunity, to spread a message. We’ve listed a number of suggested steps that you can follow to help drive traffic to www.FasterBetterSafer.org and to get the word out about our country’s surface transportation needs.
Meet with Members of Congress - Nothing beats face-to-face meetings, which is why we’ve pulled together some suggestions for arranging meetings with your local members of Congress while they are home in their districts during the August recess.
Attend a Town Hall Meeting in August - While they are home this August, many members of Congress are planning to hold public meetings with their constituents to talk about their accomplishments and learn about local needs. This is a great opportunity for you and your colleagues to attend and raise the need for passing a surface transportation bill. Click here for talking points!
Send an Op-Ed to Your Local Newspaper - Despite falling circulations, it’s a safe bet that your local members of Congress still pay close attention to what’s in the local papers. Click here or here for a sample letter, which you can customize.
Meet with Your Local Newspaper's Editorial Advisory Board - Even more effective than an Op/Ed in some markets is getting the editorial board of your local paper to support your cause.
Talk about the need for a transportation bill on public policy forums – For example, visit a site like www.AmericaSpeakingOut.com and create a profile. Once you respond to the confirmation email, login and click on American Prosperity. Under Topics, choose Infrastructure, and vote for the best ideas to support infrastructure investments.
The Economic Impact and Financing of Infrastructure Spending - Associated Equipment Distributors' report details study by College of William & Mary researchers showing the economic and tax revenue impact of infrastructure investment. Report supports the proposition that government building a new road or sewer is like a business buying a productive asset that will generate revenue for years to come. Report also shows how other industries beyond construction (e.g., manufacturing) benefit from this kind of investment.
What is the Future of Transportation Authorization in the U.S.? Click here to download a copy of an important presentation from the paving industry's ad hoc materials advocacy group's webinar from July 28, 2010.
What are the Do's and Dont's of Calling on Elected Officials? Click here to download a free guide to lobbying!
www.FasterBetterSafer.org - Special website that contains advertisements to highlight local road and transit problems (traffic, aging roads, unsafe bridges, poor transit service) and encourage viewers of the ad to visit. Please consider running this ad in your newsletters and internal publications. If you are willing and able to take advantage of depressed advertising rates, for billboards, for example, these ads also are designed to appeal to the general public. The ads are available in a variety of sizes to fit your needs.
AASHTO Report Outlines Plan to Link Rural and Urban Areas ... More investment is needed in America's rural transportation system to keep agriculture, new energy products, and freight moving; improve access for the travel, recreation, and tourism industries; connect new and emerging cities; and to ensure reliable access to key defense installations.
Plan outlines three strategies:
1) Continue to fund rural portions of the Interstate Highway System and other Federal-aid highways that connect America;
2) Double federal investment in rural transit systems to meet rising demand; and
3) Expand the existing capacity of the Interstate system, upgrade rural routes to Interstate standards, and connect newly urbanized areas to the Interstate system.
