Georgia T-SPLOST Referenda – What Happened?
August 01, 2012
Yesterday, Georgia voters went to the polls and voted on, among other things, whether to impose a new 10-year Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (T-SPLOST). The referenda offered Georgians an opportunity to vote for a one percent regional sales tax to fund transportation improvements in every corner of the state. If it had......
New Report Shows Mississippi’s Infrastructure Needs a Different Approach
July 30, 2012
Last week, the Mississippi Section Report Card for the state’s infrastructure was featured in a front-page article in the Jackson Courier-Journal and Acey Roberts, P.E., M.ASCE, chair of the Report Card Committee, was interviewed on the Marshall Ramsey show, heard in Jackson on WFMN-FM. Roberts talked about Report Card which gave grades of D for......
Transportation Referenda On Next Week’s Ballot in Georgia
July 25, 2012
On July 31st, voters in Georgia will head to the polls to vote on a referendum important to both the people of Georgia and the Civil Engineering Profession. Each of Georgia’s 12 economic development regions will separately vote on whether to impose a new 10-year Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (T-SPLOST). These referenda......
Obama Announces Major Port Projects to Be Expedited
July 23, 2012
The Obama Administration has announced that as part of its “We Can’t Wait” initiative, seven nationally and regionally significant infrastructure projects will be expedited to help modernize and expand five major ports in the United States, including the Port of Jacksonville, the Port of Miami, the Port of Savannah, the Port of New York and......
Congressional Budget Office Examines the Proposed National Infrastructure Bank
July 16, 2012
The Congressional Budget Office released a report last week analyzing a national transportation infrastructure bank, which is a proposal that many on Capitol Hill would like to use in order to boost funding and improve the selection process for projects. The report finds that an infrastructure bank could play a limited role in enhancing investment......
ASCE Needs Your Help — Give Us Your “Success Stories”!
July 13, 2012
ASCE is currently developing the 2013 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure and we need your help in identifying “Success Stories” – examples of how public and private organizations have addressed specific infrastructure problems with some creativity and determination. While the 2009 Report Card showed there is much work to be done to raise the grades,......
Transportation Bill Signed Into Law
July 09, 2012
President Obama signed the surface transportation bill, MAP-21 (HR 4348), last Friday at the White House. The President’s signature comes 1,010 days after the last surface transportation bill, SAFETEA-LU, expired. The new $118 billion, 27 month piece of legislation will fund programs until September 2014. ASCE President Andrew Herrmann, P.E., SECB, F.ASCE, was in attendance for......
State Legislators Ready to Tackle Transportation
July 04, 2012
We can take heart that there are policymakers working hard out in the states to help find solutions to restoring and improving the nation’s infrastructure. Last week ASCE staff had the opportunity to interact with a small group of state legislators from around the country who have distinguished themselves as leaders on transportation issues. Through......
House and Senate Pass Transportation Bill
July 02, 2012
UPDATE: The House of Representatives passed the transportation conference report by a vote of 373-52 Friday afternoon. The Senate passed the bill 74-19. The House and Senate worked vigorously all week to come to a compromise surface transportation conference report on Wednesday night. The announcement of a deal came over 1,000 days after the last......