Executive Director Message September 2016

The Best Get Better

If you are lucky enough in your professional life, every now and then you will come across former colleagues and bosses that remind you how much you owe them for what they have done for you and really how much more you have left yet to do to achieve similar levels of success. I recently had such an occasion as I listened to Senator Orrin Hatch discuss the passage of the FAST Act and its ramifications for Utah’s infrastructure moving forward. Senator Hatch was my first boss out of college, and I remember well many of the discussions we had then about Utah’s roads and highways as we drove around much of the state together. Little did I know then that my start as a staff assistant would, within a few short years, lead to a chance to help Utah’s roads and highways become even better through the work of the Utah Asphalt Pavement Association (UAPA).

As Senator Hatch mentioned the other day, Utah’s roads and highways are some of the best in the nation. So much so, other lawmakers in Washington, D.C. continue to approach him asking just what is Utah’s secret for success? For us, it is no secret: strong leadership from the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT), matched by incredibly talented and dedicated producers and contractors who know how to keep Utah moving, equals roads that are the envy of much of the nation. The icing on the cake, however, or, to be more true to our industry, the extra inch of HMA on the project, continues to be an inherent and deeply rooted desire to be even better.

For the asphalt pavement industry in Utah, that means working hand-in-glove with the Utah Chapter of the APWA, cities, counties, private owners, and UDOT to produce specifications that will increase durability without sacrificing stability, draw focus to longitudinal joints, emphasize smoothness for ride quality, make great products like Stone Matrix Asphalt (SMA) even better, and create opportunities to work towards solutions that are both right and reasonable when changes need to be made. The hairy details of each of these specifications and the changes we have worked through can, and often do, take pages. In fact, I’m pretty sure I was close to getting a reserved parking space at UDOT during the summer months because I spent so much time in meetings there!

None of that matters when you see all of what you have worked for come to fruition. That, in my mind, continues to be the beauty of the road construction industry. We build things, we connect people, we keep the state moving, and we get to witness all of it take place each and every day. I saw it earlier this summer as the Central UDOT parking lot was paved with a HMA mix produced according to the new APWA specifications. I saw it ten years ago as I drove the roads of Utah with Senator Hatch, and I simply cannot wait to see what we can do even better in the future!   

Executive Director Message August 2016

What Happened to Summer?

I recently read an interesting scientific article where the authors contend that how we experience time changes as we get older. In essence, they took what we all seem to feel, that time goes by faster the older you get, and put it into quantifiable meaning via science and math. Their conclusion, we do indeed experience time differently the older we get because we get used to repetitive experiences so our senses do not need to or want to slow down as much to experience things we have been through before. It’s like how the drive out to somewhere always seems longer than the drive back. That’s why summers tend to fly by now, but when we were kids they seemed to last forever! 

Now that I have lost just about everybody, I tend to think the authors’ thesis to be true because there is no doubt about it, August flew by for the association! Together we successfully hosted the 5th Annual UAPA Golf Classic at Mountain Dell on the 17th (see below). Later this month we’ll partner with the Utah Chapter of the APWA to host a lunch and learn event, “What to Expect When Inspecting” at the Gathering Place in West Jordan. And we continue to meet with UDOT on a host of specifications that range from longitudinal joints to smoothness. Add it all up, and you get a recipe for success in building UAPA’s legacy as a willing partner and force for good in our industry. 

Adding to everything that happened in August, earlier this month I was in Iowa at a conference for state asphalt execs from across the country. Each time I attend this event I’m continually amazed at the work put in by state associations across the country. I often leave this conference feeling that UAPA has so far yet to go (which is true!), but then I get days like I have had the rest of this month where the association is out making connections for people, discussing important and upcoming changes to key specifications, and raising a little bit of money for great causes in our community. Small things when taken on an individual account, but when compiled together, I see a work that is moving forward for the betterment of our industry. We stand on the shoulder of giants who have come before, and we lost a great one this month in the passing of Mont Wilson, but we are carving out something entirely new for our association and its making a difference. Thank you for your support!

In the weeks in months ahead we will be hosting additional lunch and learn events, traveling to St. George for our Southern Utah Asphalt Seminar (SUAS), and out to the Uintah Basin for our Uintah Basin Asphalt Summit (UBAS). We’ll also work hard on continued specification improvement, and hopefully be able to lay some serious groundwork for an impactful Asphalt Inspector Certification Program. I’ve said it before, but I will say it again here. If you are not a part of UAPA, you should be. We need your expertise and talents in contributing to all the association is doing in all of these areas. Special thanks to all of those members who continue to give so much!

-Reed Ryan

UAPA Executive Director

Act Now! Tell Your Member of Congress to Fix the Highway Trust Fund's Fiscal Dilemma

Background

The enactment of the “Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act,” or FAST Act, in December 2015 provided a needed—albeit temporary—stabilization of federal highway and public transportation investment.  Unfortunately, once the FAST Act expires in October 2020, the Highway Trust Fund revenue shortfalls that plagued surface transportation investment and forced multiple short-term program extensions over the last nine years will return.  Due to the inability to provide a permanent revenue stream for the Highway Trust Fund, Congress and the last two presidential administrations shifted $143 billion from elsewhere in the federal budget to preserve highway and public transit funding.  Without a real permanent solution before the FAST Act expires, Congress will once again be forced to choose between devastating investment cuts or more temporary bailouts.

Republicans on the tax-writing House Ways & Means Committee rolled out a “blueprint” to rewrite the nation’s tax code in late June.  While this plan includes much to commend, it does not address the Highway Trust Fund’s fiscal dilemma.  It is important to note that over the last 30 years all enhancements to the trust fund’s revenue stream have come as part of broad tax or budget packages. 

Tell Your Member of Congress to Fix the Highway Trust Fund's Fiscal Dilemma

Requested Action

The House Ways & Means Committee Republicans view their blueprint as the beginning of a conversation on tax reform and want to hear from all Americans.  The transportation construction industry should tell all members of Congress that stabilizing and growing federal surface transportation investment must be a component of any pro-growth tax reform proposal.  Please tell your members of Congress:

• I agree with the group of 130 bipartisan House members who wrote to Ways & Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) in May that a permanent Highway Trust Fund solution should be part of any tax reform plan and that all options should be on the table to rectify this situation once and for all.
• If Congress does not act, the Highway Trust Fund will face annual revenue shortfalls of $18 billion once the FAST Act expires.
• Congress has a narrow window to address this situation before states will once again be forced to begin delaying projects due to uncertainty about future federal funds.
• Please urge the Ways & Means Committee to enhance their tax reform blueprint by including a permanent Highway Trust Fund revenue solution.

Send a Letter to Your Member of Congress Today! 

In addition to delivering these messages to your members of Congress, please work with your state organization to submit written comments directly to the House Ways & Means Committee that echo these points, and also describe your state’s unique transportation challenges and the importance of a permanent Highway Trust Fund fix for your state’s economy.  This state-specific information can be found here. The Committee is requesting comments at http://waysandmeans.house.gov/taxreform/, by Wednesday, August 31.

For more information on how to schedule a plan tour, request an in-district meeting or to attend a town hall meeting, vistit the NAPA Grassroots Action Center or contact Ashley Jackson.