Uh oh, somebody’s out of touch on the gas tax

John Latta - Feb 14, 2013

If something is unpopular but beneficial to the American public, do you as a member of Congress (a) support it, or (b) check the polls because sometimes what's good for the country could get a person unelected. The U.S. Chamber of ...

Whispering the T Word

John Latta - Dec 05, 2012

TAX! Nothing like shouting a three-letter word ending in X to get your attention. But no, we’re not talking income tax. The gas tax is back on a table in Washington. The 18.3 cents a gallon tax, un-indexed and unchanged in almost ...

Amtrak’s post hammer-and-sickle years

John Latta - Sep 28, 2012

Would Amtrak work if it was privately owned? In the end its not only the private nature of the ownership that's important, it's who that owner is. Private ownership, per se, is only part of the equation. So who in their right ...

Mark this urgent! Until we lose interest.

John Latta - Aug 02, 2012

Where’s the urgency? After the I-35W bridge fell into the Mississippi River in Minneapolis in August 2007, virtually everyone was jumping up and down about making sure our bridges were safe and no expense should be spared in getting the job ...

Mica, Rahall and Ribble to speak at the TCC Fly-In

Staff Report - May 22, 2012

House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.), Ranking Member Nick J. Rahall (D-W.Va.), and freshman Reid Ribble (R-Wis.) will share their perspectives May 30 on the pending surface transportation reauthorization bill during the 2012 Transportation Construction Coalition (TCC) ...

About the small print Congressman

John Latta - Apr 11, 2012

Next Monday, April 16, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is back in D.C. after a well-deserved (sic) break to consider finalizing a reauthorization bill. There's not a whole lot of optimism here. The Senate's two-year bill is waiting in the ...

Civic Lessons

John Latta - Mar 01, 2012

Watching the reauthorization wheels go round and round remains one of the most frustrating occupations in our industry. The Senate Bill creeps ahead after some extraneous amendments have been hurdled. The House Republicans are now looking at a heavily reworked bill, ...

Let ‘em have it this week!

John Latta - Feb 20, 2012

I'm repeating myself, I know, but I want to urge as many of you as possible to take advantage of this week's Congressional recess. Members are back in their districts and this is an election year. Put a little heat ...

Seat backs and tray tables upright

John Latta - Feb 13, 2012

After a really bad flight we are ready for a really bad landing. Both the House and Senate are closing in this week on final votes on their versions of a replacement for SAFETEA-LU, the too-tough-to-die surface transportation bill. We need ...

Come Together, Right Now, Over Bill

John Latta - Feb 03, 2012

The Association of Equipment Manufacturers is taking what I think will become a pretty popular position on the House’s HR7 reauthorization bill, the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act (AEIJA), just passed by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. It's ...

Mica’s Move is Made: Now let’s keep moving

John Latta - Feb 01, 2012

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica and Members of the committee unveiled the American Energy an Infrastructure Jobs Act yesterday. I would like to think contractors, subs, agencies,equipment dealerships and OEMs are excited and getting ready to move quickly ...

Game On

John Latta - Jan 31, 2012

The press conference is on the way today, so guesswork now is probably a waste of time. But just which reauthorization bill we see today will make a major difference come tomorrow. House Republicans are expected to propose spending about $270 ...

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