GTA Board Update
GTA Board Update The Georgia Transportation Alliance, alongside many of our partners and leadership, had a very busy week focused on federal transportation solutions. Following the successful 2015 Georgia legislative session, we have made federal advocacy a priority for the remainder of this year, and this week is a reflection of putting that priority into action. We began the week by attending a federal transportation hearing led by House Transportation & Infrastructure Chairman Bill Shuster (R – PA) and hosted by Georgia’s own Congressmen Tom Graves (R – GA 14), Rick Allen (R – GA 12), and Rob Woodall (R – GA 7). Congressman Woodall currently serves as Georgia’s representatives on the House T&I Committee. They were also joined by: • Georgia Department of Transportation Chief Engineer Meg Pirkle • Georgia Ports Authority Senior Director Jamie McCurry • Coca-Cola Vice President of Supply Chain and Transportation Michael Broaders • UPS Vice President of Network Operations Matthew J. Connelly This discussion centered primarily around passing a long term funding bill that would also reduce the current burden of environmental regulations and increase flexibility for states. Both Coca – Cola and UPS (also one of GTA's leadership companies) noted the critical nature of infrastructure development to their businesses, despite the fact that infrastructure investment has not kept pace. Each noted that commercial entities to shoulder a heavier burden for that investment. Later that day, GTA staff and leadership traveled to Washington for meetings with Georgia’s congressional delegation. Representatives from Vulcan, Oldcastle, Georgia Construction Aggregates Association, Georgia Highway Contractors Association, American Council of Engineering Companies, Georgia Power, Perimeter Improvement Districts, Georgia Department of Transportation, and the Georgia legislature attended the meetings. While there, we collaborated with our federal advocacy partners to stress to our representatives in Washington the importance of funding for the Highway Trust Fund and the need for a long-term reauthorization. All of Georgia’s congressmen voted for the most recent patch to the Highway Trust Fund, and we were able to thank them for that support, urge future support, and request meetings during the August recess to reinforce that message. As reported from one of our meeting attendees: “…the meetings we had on Capitol Hill on Wednesday were very productive as we continue to lay ground work on finding a solution to our national transportation funding issue. While our dialogues were good, we still have a long way to go.” A list of our congressional meetings is attached to this email. As we noted several weeks ago, we are improving the benefits that we provide to GTA’s investors and leadership. One of those benefits will be periodic briefings provided exclusively to our board and / or executive committee. This Monday will be the first of our new schedule of monthly board conference calls, and we will be joined by the Executive Director of the State Road and Tollway Authority and Georgia Regional Transportation Authority, Chris Tomlinson. Please let me know if you have comments or questions on any of the above. As always, thank you for your investment and friendship. Best regards, Seth Millican gatransportation.org [email protected] (770) 715 - 2657 Georgia Transportation Alliance D.C. Fly-In th June 9 – 11th, 2015 Wednesday, June 10th 9:30-10:00 AM Meeting – Congressman Sanford Bishop – GA2 Location: Rayburn 2407 10:30- 11:00 AM Meeting – Congressman Rob Woodall – GA7 Location: Longworth- 1724 11:00 -11:30 AM Meeting – Congressman Doug Collins – GA9 Location: Longworth- 1504 11:30 – 12:00 PM Meeting – Congressman Barry Loudermilk – GA11 Location: Cannon 238 11:30 – 12:00 PM Meeting – Congressman Rick Allen - GA12 Location: Cannon 513 1:00- 1:30 PM Meeting- Congressman Buddy Carter- GA1 Location- OGR Committee Room (2247 Rayburn). 1:30 – 2:00 PM Meeting -Congressman Lynn Westmoreland- GA3 Location- Rayburn 2202 2:00 – 2:30 PM Meeting- Congressman David Scott- GA13 Location: Cannon 225 3:30 – 4:00 PM Meeting- Congressman Tom Price- GA6 Location: Cannon 100 3:30 – 4:00 PM Meeting – Congressman Jody Hice- GA10 Location: Longworth 1516 4:30 – 5:15 PM Meeting- Senator Johnny Isakson and Senator David Perdue Location- Russell Office Building (SR) 131 5:30 – 6:00 PM Meeting- Congressman Hank Johnson- GA4 Location- Rayburn 2240 Thursday, June 11th 10:00 – 10:30 AM Meeting – Congressman Austin Scott- GA8 Location: Rayburn 2417 Congressman Rob Woodall Congressman Rick Allen Senator David Perdue Congressman Tom Graves
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