WURTA Update August 2014 Where did June go? Well, let`s get to it

WURTA Update
August 2014
Where did June go? Well, let’s get to it.
And now for the News …
Fall Transportation Conference Planning
Paper Valley Hotel, Appleton, September 28 – 30th with our hosts, Valley Transit. Looking
forward to seeing all of you for a few days of up-to-the-minute legislative news, cutting edge
vendor equipment, technical support from US FTA/ DOT and WisDOT, a terrific speaker list, and
sharing with our peers. Check the WURTA Website for the latest schedule and speakers. We will
start a little early this year with activities on Sunday afternoon and evening, but promise to get
you out by late afternoon on Tuesday. Registration is open now:
http://www.wurta.com/conferencedetails.php
Janesville Transit Center Opening
Please join us in Janesville for the dedication of the new City of Janesville Transit Services
Center, Wednesday, August 20, 2014, 10:00 A.M., Transit Services Center, 101 Black Bridge
Road, Janesville, Wisconsin. For questions or more information about this ceremony, please
contact the Janesville Transit System at (608) 755-3150. Congratulations to Dave Mumma and
his Team!
WURTA Website
See that new logo above? Nice! Way to go Marketing Committee!
The re-booted WURTA website is up and running! Check it out at www.WURTA.com. New
features include: logo and design, partner links, job notices, meeting agendas, live Twitter feed,
Facebook, LinkedIn, and yes, Pinterest. Please forward your content to Jennifer Bacon,
JBacon@cityofmadison.com, for posting. And, we look forward to offering advertising space
soon.
New Wisconsin State Legislative Website
The state has been busy, too, re-developing their website. Much more user friendly and
accessible for people with disabilities. Link here: http://legis.wisconsin.gov/
Strategic Planning Activity
Anita Connelly and Joe Caruso were selected to complete WURTA’s Strategic Plan Project.
Activities are well under way. A full presentation and report will be delivered at the Fall
Conference on Sunday September 28, after the Packer vs Bears game. As much as I’m looking
754 WILLIAMSON STREET • MADISON, WI 53703  PHONE 608-237-8121 • FAX 608-255-3301  WWW.WURTA.COM
forward to the watching the game with you, don’t miss the Strategic Plan Presentation that
same night. WURTA membership will make related votes at the WURTA annual meeting on
September 30th based on Sunday’s presentation.
Legislative Round Up
Here’s the quick run-down on MAP-21 Reauthorization:
• MAP-21 was extended until May 31, 2015
• Clean extension with no substantive changes, funding levels maintained
• 115th Congress will likely be the ones to deal with next go at reauthorization
• Elections in November will be a factor
• Neither the House nor Senate ever released any real transit legislative language
What it means to you:
• Congress still cannot agree on a long-term, sustainable funding mechanism for surface
transportation
• With May 31 being right at the beginning of next year's construction season, many
expect additional extensions rather than full legislation
• Important question: are we better off with a six year bill at flat funding plus inflation
or the opportunity to have a more robustly funded bill?
• The transit industry needs to convince more members of Congress to be supportive of
real, long-term, sustainable legislation. For too many members, the transit
discussion remains a theoretical one.
Primaries are August 12th, elections are November 4th. Please see the attached sheet of
legislators not running for re-election. Thanks them for their service. And, of course, there will
be candidates for the vacated seats. Please get to know the candidates, list also attached. They
remember people they meet early on!
Ballot Initiative: This November, all Wisconsin ballots will have a (binding ? ) referendum on the
state Transportation fund. The language will be as follows:
Creation of a Transportation Fund
Shall section 9 (2) of article IV and section 11 of article VIII of the constitution be
created to require that revenues generated by use of the state transportation
system be deposited into a transportation fund administered by a department of
transportation for the exclusive purpose of funding Wisconsin’s transportation
systems and to prohibit any transfers or lapses from this fund?
If the vote is affirmed, it doesn’t necessarily keep public transit funding in the state
Transportation Fund. WURTA’s goal is to keep public transit funded from the segregated
Transportation Fund as opposed to being funded from the general fund. Nonetheless, please be
aware that this question will be on the ballot.
Our coalition completed briefings with both gubernatorial campaigns this week. Secretary
Gottlieb is developing the next budget for the Department of Transportation. We had a
presence at ALL of the Secretary’s Town Hall meetings held this summer! It’s important that we
continue to reach out to candidates and incumbents about transit needs.
WURTA’s delegation is set to attend Milwaukee Night in Washington D.C., Wednesday,
September 17, for the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce. Milwaukee Night
provides an opportunity to thank the legislators, staff members and administrators who help us achieve
our goals. Dale Anderson -ATU, Patty Kiewiz – Green Bay, Crystal Martin – Madison Metro, and Gary
Goyke will attend. In addition, we will visit senate and house members’ offices, attend a WisPolitics.com
briefing; and, WURTA has been invited to join MMAC in the Luncheon with Congressman Paul
Ryan. We will be meeting with Congressman Ryan and various business leaders. We will send
you a report and hopefully some pictures!
Upcoming WURTA Meetings
August 21
WURTA Board Meeting, via conference call
Sept 11-12
GWAAR Conference, Wisconsin Dells
September 15-18
MMAC Fly In, DC
September 29
WURTA Maintenance Committee, Appleton
September 28 – 30 Fall Transportation Conference, Appleton
October 23
WURTA Paratransit and Safety & Ops Meeting, Appleton
October 29
Wisconsin Transportation Associations Meeting, Madison
WURTA Annual Meeting
We have a rather meaty agenda for this year’s annual meeting, September 30th at the Fall
Conference. The membership will vote on recommendations from the Strategic Plan (these will
be significant), approving the 2015 budget, combining the Safety/Ops Committee and
Paratransit Committee, and naming the Conference Host for 2016. We look forward to the full
participation of the membership.
NEMT Audit
The State Legislative Audit Bureau is conducting an audit of the Non-Emergency Medicaid
Transportation Brokerage. A team of 7 auditors/analysts have been assigned, a remarkable
number! Their goal is to make specific recommendation to the State Joint Legislative Audit
Committee early next year in time for the budget process. This is not an audit of the contractor,
MTM, Inc., but an audit of the systemic issues with the program, service complaints, and
comparative costs from before the brokerage was implemented. We hope to have an update
from the auditors at our Fall Conference.
Leadership Updates – Please send your congratulations!
Patty Kiewiz is now Director of Green Bay Metro.
Dan Boehm is President and Managing Director of the Milwaukee County Transit System
effective June 1, 2014.
Jim Wacker of New Flyer is the new Vendor representative on the WURTA Board.
Jim Collins is the new Transportation Director for Go Transit in Oshkosh.
In Memoriam: Brad Erickson from Duluth Transit was the Assistant Maintenance Director. He
passed away from a fast battle with colon cancer. Jason Zachow from the Maintenance
Committee said, “Ever since I started going to the meetings, he was always in attendance and
always shared great information with the rest of us.” I know he will be missed by his colleagues
and we share your sorrow.
This has been WURTA Update.