Industry Members Testify at House Transportation and Policy Hearings
Both Republican and Democrat members of the state House Transportation and Policy Committees are on a tour of the state for a series of hearings on the issue of transportation funding. Minority committee chairman Richard A. Geist, R-Altoona, who co-chaired the hearing with majority committee chairman Joseph Markosek, D-Monroeville, called the bi-partisan hearings "unprecedented for the House of Representatives."
Fueling the committee's willingness to sit side-by-side is an annual $3.5 billion funding gap for maintaining and repairing highways and bridges and funding public transportation.
According to Kevin Kline, state Department of Transportation District 2-0 executive, the state has more than 5,600 structurally deficient bridges and more than 7,000 miles of poor roads.
The Transportation Construction Industries has been represented at all of the hearings. APC executive Bob Latham appeared before the group in Hershey. Mike Hawbaker (Glenn O. Hawbaker) presented the TCI information in Loch Haven, Kim Snyder (Eastern Industries) represented TCI in Center Valley. Tomorrow, Greg Barwis (James J. Anderson) will be the industry’s representative in Philadelphia.
For a complete list of the hearing schedule go here.