2018 Legislative Fly-In
Emphasizes Aviation & Water Resources Legislation
Team Alabama – Mark Barnett, Shelia Montgomery-Mills, Joe Meads,
Brad Williams and Kate Leonard.
On Wednesday, March 14, 2018, 210 ASCE members from 49 states, DC and Puerto Rico arrived on Capitol Hill to advocate for infrastructure and the civil engineering community. The Alabama Section Team had a great visit to Capitol Hill. The team was able to engage in discussions about infrastructure needs affecting the State of Alabama and the United States with the Alabama Congressional delegation and staff consisting of Representative Martha Roby, Representative Mo Brooks, Representative Terri Sewell, Representative Gary Palmer, Representative Bradley Byrne, Representative Mike Rogers, Senator Doug Jones and Senator Richard Shelby.
Armed with their everyday Civil Engineering experiences, issues briefings from the ASCE Government Relations team, and insight from keynote speakers, Fly-In attendees spent Wednesday afternoon advocating for aviation, water and water resources infrastructure as well as urging Members of Congress to draft a comprehensive infrastructure bill.
During Tuesday’s programs members received advocacy tips and tools from Brad Fitch, CEO of the Congressional Management Foundation and got an insider’s look at the various infrastructure proposals being debated by Congress from Jeff Davis, Senior Fellow and Editor, Eno Transportation Weekly at The Eno Center for Transportation.
Undersecretary for Transportation Policy Derek Kan kicked off the Wednesday morning program with a discussion of the Trump Administration’s infrastructure plan, and how the USDOT is progressing on a variety of issues including streamlining project decision making. Ken was followed by Reps. Garrett Graves (R-LA-5) and Elizabeth Esty (D-CT-5) who provided insights on what legislators hope to hear from constituents and how best to persuade their colleagues to support infrastructure funding.
2018 CIVIL ENGINEER LEGISLATIVE DAY
On February 21, the Alabama ASCE Section joined with Alabama-ACEC for their 3rd Annual Legislative Driving in Montgomery. The event was attended by 45 members who heard from State Senator Clyde Chambliss, P.E., M.ASCE (R- District 30) who touched on how bills becomes law in Alabama. The Senator also spoke about his bill, Senate Bill 316, which will change the composition of the Alabama Board of Licensure to include two public members and move qualifications-based selection (QBS) from the state administrative code into the state statutes.
2017 Legislative Fly-In:
Team Alabama receiving the 2017 Advocate Team of the Year Award from ASCE President Norma Jean Mattei
March 16, 2017 – The 2017 American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Legislative Fly-In was attended by over 200 ASCE Members representing 49 different states. Many of the attendees were impacted by the Winter Storm Stella, which dropped over four inches of snow on the U.S. Capital.
The 2017 Legislative Fly-in program was conducted on March 14-16, 2017, and featured a day and half of in-depth briefing sessions on the recently released 2017 Infrastructure Report Card and key legislation action in Congress, training on raising awareness and influencing elected leaders, networking with ASCE peers from across the country, a Younger Member Program, tips on continuing relationships with elected officials once we return home, and culminating in one on one meetings on Capitol Hill with members of Congress and staff.
On Tuesday, at the Awards Dinner, the Alabama Section was awarded the “2017 Outstanding Section Civil Engineer Advocate Team of the Year.” The Section was recognized for their advocacy efforts on the State and National level for the past 15 months, including raising awareness about dam safety needs, efforts in protecting QBS language, organizing a Legislative Drive-in at Montgomery, and the development of the 2015 Alabama Report Card. The award was presented by the Society President Norma Jean Mattei.
The delegation from Alabama included Mr. Joe Meads, Alabama Section Legislative Captain; Mrs. Shelia Montgomery-Mills, Alabama Section Past-President; Mr. Lawren Pratt, Region 5 Governor; Mr. Ben Russell, Mobile Branch Past-President; Dr. Kate Leonard, Alabama Section Past-Secretary/Treasurer and Mr. Brad Williams, Montgomery Branch President.
The ASCE Government Relations staff scheduled meetings for each of the attendees with their Senate and Congressional Representatives within a short window on Wednesday afternoon. The meetings were very productive and informative and lasted around 30 minutes each. A leave behind packet was given to the staff containing an overview of current issues, so that they could review it with the Senator or Representative. The Alabama Team even had the opportunity to traverse the tunnels within the Nation’s Capital while traveling between the different Congressional Buildings.
Team Alabama meeting with staffers from Senator Richard Shelby.
After being dropped off at Capitol Hill, Team Alabama was off to the races to meet with every Senator and Representative on our list. As the afternoon progressed, the group had an opportunity to engage in spirited and encouraging discussions with the staff of Senator Richard Shelby, Senator Luther Strange, Representative Terri Sewell, Representative Gary Palmer, Representative Mo Brooks, Representative Martha Roby, and Representative Bradley Byrne. Adding to the experiences of the day was the opportunity to meet briefly with Senator Richard Shelby, Representative Gary Palmer, Representative Mo Brooks, and Representative Bradley Byrne.
Most discussions began with a brief overview of the results and conclusions of the 2017 Infrastructure Report Card, which gave a grade of a D+ unchanged from 2013 and indicating the continuing needs of America’s infrastructure. The Report highlighted the benefits seen in seven categories where investments were made, three categories that continue to fall resulting in a lowering of grades and the remaining categories just holding steady. The focus of all discussions was the need for funding, consistent and sufficient, requiring bold leadership from all.
One of the key items discussed was the FY17 and FY18 Spending/Appropriations Bills so that the FAST Act’s increased funding can take effect during this fiscal year and next. Congress passed the five-year surface transportation act in December 2015 and included an increase in funding to help improve the nation’s highways bridges and transit systems. Most of the legislators were on board with the appropriations, however there was a lack of commitment without knowing what the Administration’s Budget would contain. If a Continued Resolution (CR) is passed, then Alabama will miss out on over $50 million dollars for FY17 alone due to the lack of a Fast ACT Appropriations Bill ($732 million up to $785 million).
Additionally, the team discussed several water issues with the Representatives and Senators that included the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) and the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund. We asked the Representatives and Senators to reauthorize the Clean Water and Drinking Water SRF’s which hasn’t been done since 1990 and 1994. With most of America’s drinking water and wastewater infrastructure in need of repair and many areas dependent on these funds, the team advocated for both SRF’s to be tripled in appropriation from $1.39 Billion to $4.17 Billion for the Clean Water SRF and $863 million to $2.58 billion for the Drinking Water SRF in accordance with President Trump’s commitment to triple SRF.
In 2016 after years of work the Water Infrastructure Investment for the Nation (WIIN) Act passed both sides of the Hill and was signed by the President. WIIN supported previous pieces of legislation but Congress has yet to appropriate the promised funding in any of them. In 2014, Congress reauthorized the National Dam Safety Program (NDSP) in the Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA) and established new High Hazard Dam Rehabilitation Program to provide grants to high hazard non-federal dam rehab repair or renewal. The NDSP program is authorized at $13.9 million a year until 2019 and the federal rehab program is authorized at $445 million over 10 years though neither have received any funding. Even if funding is appropriated Alabama would be unable benefit from the funding due to a lack of a Dam Safety Program in the state. In addition to dams, the team discussed the Levee Safety Program. With the WRDDA Act of 2014, Congress established a new levee program to promote consistent safety standards, create levee guideline, and provide funding assistance to the state for establishing participating levee safety programs. The program is authorized for $395 million dollars over 5 years however it has not received any appropriations for funding.
Lastly, with the push for tax reform and the discussion that is forthcoming including all tax exemptions, ASCE took the opportunity to remind legislators that the Tax Exempt Municipal Bonds are often relied upon for municipalities to complete infrastructure projects. The team discussed the importance to maintaining these as just one of many ways to trim our infrastructure deficit.
This has been a great year for the Alabama Section Government Relations Team, and we look forward to making it even stronger. If you are interested in participating in the future, please contact the Alabama State Advocacy Captain Joe Meads at joemeads@sain.com.
For more information concerning the Fly-In please visit http://www.asce.org/legislative_fly-in/ and also become a Key Contact at http://www.asce.org/keycontacts/ to stay engaged with advocating for infrastructure public policy.
Photos from the Fly-In
Successful Alabama Civil Engineer Legislative Day Drive-In
On Wednesday, February 17, 2017, the Alabama Section of ASCE held its 1st Annual ASCE Civil Engineer Legislative Day Drive-In at the Alabama State House. The event was attended by over 40 Civil Engineers from across the State of Alabama. The group included multiple Alabama Section Members, several County Engineers, Renee Casillas, Executive Director of American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) of Alabama, and additional representatives from other organizations that represent the Engineering Community.
Senator Clyde Chambliss, P.E. who represents Alabama Senate District 30 was the main speaker. Senator Chambliss gave the group an overview of the legislative process and how bills progress through the legislature. Also, Senator Chambliss discussed his Senate Bill 171 for Anti-Trust Immunity for the Board of Licensure for Engineers and Land Surveyors and Senate Bill 174 for Qualification Based Selection (QBS). Senator Chambliss stated that QBS is the most important issue he has seen in his 25 years of practice as a Civil Engineer. Other speakers included Senator Phil Williams of Senate District 10 (Cherokee, Dekalb, Etowah, and St. Clair Counties), Senator Trip Pittman of Senate District 32 (Baldwin Co.), Senator Gerald Dial of Senate District 13 (Chambers, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne, Lee and Randolph County), and Representative Joe Lovvorn of House District 79 (Lee County). Senator Dial gave the group a historical perspective of transportation funding and discussed the status of gas tax legislation for this session. The afternoon concluded with multiple Engineers meeting with individual legislators about issues affecting infrastructure and the Civil Engineering profession.
Photos from the Event
New Alabama Legislative Tracker
ASCE’s State Government Relations Staff works hard to ensure you have the latest infrastructure and professional practice policy information about your state. We encourage you to use our legislative and regulatory tracking service to quickly identify:
- Current legislation and regulations
- News
- ASCE’s public policy positions
- Key Alerts in your state
Engaging in the policy process doesn’t stop here! We encourage you to reach out to us with updates or information about public policy issues in your state, please e-mail Aaron Castelo or Maria Matthews.
2016 Legislative Fly-In to Washington, D.C.
Team Alabama: (left to right) Mr. Joe Meads, Mrs. Shelia Montgomery-Mills, Mr. Michael Hora, and Mr. Brad Williams
The 2016 ASCE Legislative Fly-in was a great success, with every state sending at least one delegate and totaling more than 200 attendees. The Fly-in was an intense two day event held on March 15th and 16th, 2016. The Alabama Section sent a delegation of four people consisting of Mr. Joe Meads, Alabama Section Legislative Captain; Mrs. Shelia Montgomery-Mills, Alabama Section President; Mr. Michael Hora, Alabama Section Past President; and Mr. Brad Williams, Montgomery Branch President. The delegation had an opportunity to meet with the Staff of Senator Richard Shelby, Senator Jeff Sessions, Representative Terri Sewell, Representative Gary Palmer, and Representative Martha Roby.
On Tuesday, March 15th, the delegation spent an afternoon learning about the issues that would be focused on, and then we developed a specific message around how the issues affect our individual state. On Wednesday, March 16th, we went to the Capitol and the footrace began! The ASCE Government Relations staff scheduled meetings for each of the members with their senate and congressional representatives within a 5 hour window. Most meetings were very productive and lasted less than 30 minutes. Even though no senator or representative was present at the meetings, Senator Shelby, Representative Roby, and Representative Palmer were kind enough to make it a point to stop in and say hello to us. The meetings themselves were very informative with the staff and a leave behind packet was provided for each one of them. This packet provided the legislators with an overview of the issues and ASCE’s position so that they could review it upon returning from the Senate or Congressional Floor.
The four items that were discussed at the Fly-in were:
- FAST Act Reauthorization
a. We thanked the staff of each representative for helping to pass the FAST Act. - Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization
a. We urged the staff of each representative to reauthorize federal aviation programs, which have been operating under extension since September 2015.
b. The bill would:
i. Increase authorized funding for the Airport Improvement Program (AIP) to $3.8 billion by 2022, representing a 2.2% increase each year starting in FY 2017.
ii. Restore the FY 2011 funding level of $3.5 billion by 2018.
iii. Retain the cap of $4.50 for Passenger Facility Charges (PFC’s), limiting the amount of funding that airports can collect to make improvements. - Water Infrastructure and FY 2017 Appropriations
a. We urged the staff of each representative to act swiftly to address well-documented water infrastructure problems across the nation.
b. This bills would:
i. Restore the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund to 2009 levels of $3.1 billion.
ii. Restore the Clean Water State Revolving Fund to 2009 levels of $5.9 billion.
iii. Fund the Water Infrastructure Financing Program known as the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA). - Water Resources Development Act 2016
a. We urged the staff of each representative to pass a new Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) this year, retaining it on a 2-year cycle.
b. This bill would:
i. Authorize a Dam Rehabilitation Program.
ii. Expand the Public-Private Partnership (P3) Pilot Program created in WRRDA 2014 and authorize an additional PE new start in FY17.
2016 ASCE Legislative Fly – Click here to download the PDF Trip Report
Senator Richard Shelby
Representative Gary Palmer
Representative Martha Roby