GTA Board Update

GTA Board Update
The Georgia Transportation Alliance, alongside many of our partners and leadership, had a very busy week
focused on federal transportation solutions. Following the successful 2015 Georgia legislative session, we have
made federal advocacy a priority for the remainder of this year, and this week is a reflection of putting that
priority into action.
We began the week by attending a federal transportation hearing led by House Transportation &
Infrastructure Chairman Bill Shuster (R – PA) and hosted by Georgia’s own Congressmen Tom Graves (R – GA
14), Rick Allen (R – GA 12), and Rob Woodall (R – GA 7). Congressman Woodall currently serves as Georgia’s
representatives on the House T&I Committee. They were also joined by:
• Georgia Department of Transportation Chief Engineer Meg Pirkle
• Georgia Ports Authority Senior Director Jamie McCurry
• Coca-Cola Vice President of Supply Chain and Transportation Michael Broaders
• UPS Vice President of Network Operations Matthew J. Connelly
This discussion centered primarily around passing a long term funding bill that would also reduce the current
burden of environmental regulations and increase flexibility for states. Both Coca – Cola and UPS (also one of
GTA's leadership companies) noted the critical nature of infrastructure development to their businesses,
despite the fact that infrastructure investment has not kept pace. Each noted that commercial entities to
shoulder a heavier burden for that investment.
Later that day, GTA staff and leadership traveled to Washington for meetings with Georgia’s congressional
delegation. Representatives from Vulcan, Oldcastle, Georgia Construction Aggregates Association, Georgia
Highway Contractors Association, American Council of Engineering Companies, Georgia Power, Perimeter
Improvement Districts, Georgia Department of Transportation, and the Georgia legislature attended the
meetings.
While there, we collaborated with our federal advocacy partners to stress to our representatives in Washington
the importance of funding for the Highway Trust Fund and the need for a long-term reauthorization. All of
Georgia’s congressmen voted for the most recent patch to the Highway Trust Fund, and we were able to thank
them for that support, urge future support, and request meetings during the August recess to reinforce that
message.
As reported from one of our meeting attendees: “…the meetings we had on Capitol Hill on Wednesday were
very productive as we continue to lay ground work on finding a solution to our national transportation funding
issue. While our dialogues were good, we still have a long way to go.”
A list of our congressional meetings is attached to this email.
As we noted several weeks ago, we are improving the benefits that we provide to GTA’s investors
and leadership. One of those benefits will be periodic briefings provided exclusively to our board
and / or executive committee. This Monday will be the first of our new schedule of monthly board
conference calls, and we will be joined by the Executive Director of the State Road and Tollway
Authority and Georgia Regional Transportation Authority, Chris Tomlinson.
Please let me know if you have comments or questions on any of the above. As always, thank you for your
investment and friendship.
Best regards,
Seth Millican
gatransportation.org
smillican@gatransportation.org
(770) 715 - 2657
Georgia Transportation Alliance
D.C. Fly-In
th
June 9 – 11th, 2015
Wednesday, June 10th
9:30-10:00 AM
Meeting – Congressman Sanford Bishop – GA2
Location: Rayburn 2407
10:30- 11:00 AM
Meeting – Congressman Rob Woodall – GA7
Location: Longworth- 1724
11:00 -11:30 AM
Meeting – Congressman Doug Collins – GA9
Location: Longworth- 1504
11:30 – 12:00 PM
Meeting – Congressman Barry Loudermilk – GA11
Location: Cannon 238
11:30 – 12:00 PM
Meeting – Congressman Rick Allen - GA12
Location: Cannon 513
1:00- 1:30 PM
Meeting- Congressman Buddy Carter- GA1
Location- OGR Committee Room (2247 Rayburn).
1:30 – 2:00 PM
Meeting -Congressman Lynn Westmoreland- GA3
Location- Rayburn 2202
2:00 – 2:30 PM
Meeting- Congressman David Scott- GA13
Location: Cannon 225
3:30 – 4:00 PM
Meeting- Congressman Tom Price- GA6
Location: Cannon 100
3:30 – 4:00 PM
Meeting – Congressman Jody Hice- GA10
Location: Longworth 1516
4:30 – 5:15 PM
Meeting- Senator Johnny Isakson and
Senator David Perdue
Location- Russell Office Building (SR) 131
5:30 – 6:00 PM
Meeting- Congressman Hank Johnson- GA4
Location- Rayburn 2240
Thursday, June 11th
10:00 – 10:30 AM
Meeting – Congressman Austin Scott- GA8
Location: Rayburn 2417
Congressman Rob Woodall
Congressman Rick Allen
Senator David Perdue
Congressman Tom Graves