Senators press for action on Highway Trust Fund

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, called on Congress to act to preserve 3 million jobs that are reportedly in jeopardy due to funding shortfalls once MAP-21 expires. Boxer held a press conference with Sen. John Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.) and Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) to stress the matter’s urgency.

According to NSSGA, the senators explain the transportation fiscal cliff the U.S. faces upon MAP-21’s expiration in a letter to their colleagues. The three senators also released a state-by-state breakdown of the jobs that would be lost to make their point.

“We applaud Chairman Boxer for making the case for Congress to take steps now to assure the future of the Highway Trust Fund before it becomes insolvent in 2015,” says Ward Nye, president and CEO of Martin Marietta Materials and NSSGA chairman of the board of directors. “We support the chairman and will continue our grassroots efforts to grow the coalition calling for action.”

NSSGA is pushing a similar effort with 19 new members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee as targets. NSSGA’s goal is to ensure each member takes a tour or is scheduled for a tour of an aggregates operation during the August congressional recess.