Steel Escalation Update
PennDOT has informed APC it has completed the internal review. The Department is drafting a steel index Special Provision based on a specification used in New York. It is hoped the Clearance Transmittal will be circulated by late next week.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) held a Capitol Hill news conference on May 1 with general aviation and highway leaders to highlight the need for key tax provisions in the pending Federal Aviation Administration authorization bill. The two highlighted their bipartisan solution to prevent a devastating $14 billion cut in federal highway investment to state and local governments in 2009. The Baucus-Grassley proposal would fill a projected Highway Trust Fund Highway Account revenue shortfall that, if left unaddressed, would lead to a 32 percent cut in each state’s federal highway funds.

ARTBA President & CEO Pete Ruane spoke in favor of the proposal during the event. “The Baucus-Grassley proposal is an economic stability measure that ensures thousands of American families won’t lose their jobs next year and signals to the stock market that the highway construction sector remains solid,” Ruane said.