Deliver the Message at the TCC Fly-In The Transportation Construction Coalition’s (TCC) 2016 Legislative Fly-In is scheduled for May 10-11, 2016. While the FAST provides a steady source of funding over the next five years for highway and transit programs, the legislation did not solve the long-term Highway Trust Fund revenue problem. At the expiration of the FAST Act in FY 2020, significant new revenue will be needed just to maintain current funding levels. Your Senators and Representative need to understand that they need to get started on fixing the transportation infrastructure investment shortfall we are facing now and into the future.

On Tuesday, Donald Trump easily won the Florida winner-take-all primary, and in such a landslide (66 of 67 counties) that Florida Senator Marco Rubio was forced to suspend his campaign. Winning Florida entitles Trump to the state’s 99 delegate votes. Mr. Trump also placed first in North Carolina and Illinois, which will add to his delegate totals. Since those two states have no vote threshold requirement, all candidates, including Rubio, added to their delegate totals. Mr. Trump fought Sen. Ted Cruz to a virtual draw in Missouri, leading by less than 2,000 votes statewide, but due to the congressional district winner-take-all system the state employs his actual delegate take may be as high as 34-15.

Encourage Redevelopment of $8 Billion of Federal Real Property This week, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee unanimously approved two AGC-supported bills that would encourage federal agencies to dispose of, consolidate, or redevelop at least $8 billion of excess or underutilized civilian federal real property. The Public Buildings Reform and Savings Act, H.R. 4487, and the Federal Assets Sale and Transfer Act, H.R. 4465, would:

AGC Calls for Change Order Oversight & Funding to Implement VA Reforms This week, AGC called on the House Appropriations Subcommittee for Military Construction and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to conduct oversight into DOD construction agencies’ delay in executing and paying change orders on construction projects and need for adequate VA construction program funding to implement a host of recent reforms.

AGC Federal Contractors Conference; May 9-11 in DC The difference between AGC’s Federal Contractors Conference (FEDCON) and other federal construction meetings is that, at FEDCON, construction contractor attendees drive the agenda. As such, for this year’s conference—held May 9-11 in at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C.—AGC is currently seeking your questions for consideration during its meeting with headquarters leaders of the Naval Facility Engineering Command. To see our draft agenda for these session, please click here. To register, please click here.

This week, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-S.D.) indicated that he and House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA.) are close to agreement on a three-month extension of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) programs. This extension will be necessary to allow for the House and Senate to work through the legislative process. The current authorization expires on March 31.

Register at www.agc.org/tcc_fly-in Although Congress’ recently-passed highway and transit bill, the FAST Act, temporarily stabilizes highway and transportation programs, legislators have so far failed to address the root cause of the funding shortfalls that have plagued the Highway Trust Fund since 2008. Additionally, a short-term extension of federal aviation programs expires at the end of March, and Congress is working on a multi-year bill to fund those programs.

This week the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing titled, “The Multiemployer Pension Plan System: Recent Reforms and Current Challenges”, which examined benefit suspension tools for deeply troubled plans under the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014; the proposed benefit suspensions for participants in the Central States Pension Fund; the funding challenges of the United Mine Workers Pension Plan; the projected insolvency of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC); and the proposed new composite plan design.

Following a dismal Super Tuesday showing, Dr. Ben Carson issued a statement yesterday afternoon in which he all but suspended his presidential campaign. "I do not see a political path forward in light of last evening's Super Tuesday primary results,” he said. “However, this grassroots movement on behalf of 'We the People' will continue."

Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump delivered strong performances in their respective Super Tuesday primaries and caucuses, but neither could land the knockout punch for which they hoped. At least for Republicans, one mathematically viable scenario remains to fall into a contested convention. It appears we will know on March 15.