Welcome to the NASHTU Website
The National Association of State Highway and Transportation Unions (NASHTU) is dedicated to ensuring that federal transportation dollars are spent on cost-effective, safe projects that serve the public interest. NASHTU is comprised of 38 unions and associations representing hundreds of thousands of state and locally employed transportation engineers, construction managers and inspectors, technical workers and related public servants from throughout the United States.
NASHTU 2nd Annual Fall Conference – Register TODAY!
At previous NASHTU Annual Conferences, NASHTU attendees have expressed a desire to meet more than once a year to discuss important updates and state developments that impact all NASHTU members. To accommodate this request, last fall NASHTU hosted its first virtual fall conference at no cost to attendees. We are pleased to announce that we are once again planning a free virtual fall conference on October 19 from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. PDT/1 – 3 p.m. EDT.
Please mark your calendars to join us as we discuss State DOT recruitment and retention, federal legislative challenges, outsourcing public sector transportation work, and other pertinent transportation-related updates.
To register for the free conference, please click here.
Please spread the word with other transportation and union leaders – everyone is welcome.
NASHTU Planning Subcommittee Members: Jon Haines (AFSCME), Jenn Porcari (AFT), Amy Hickey (AFT), Travis Woodward (CSEA/SEIU 2001), Patrick Lyons (New York State Public Employees Federation), Michelle Wheat (Montana Public Employees Federation), Patrick Russell (Massachusetts Organization of State Engineers and Scientists – MOSES), Joe Dorant (MOSES), Tom Prendergast (MOSES), Nadine Westcott (Professional Engineers in California Government)
NASHTU 2023 Conference a Great Success!
The 23rd Annual National Association of State Highway and Transportation Unions (NASHTU) Conference was held June 5 through 7, 2023 in Washington D.C. NASHTU conference attendees heard from congressional transportation committee members including Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) and Representatives Hillary Scholten (D-MI), Marc Molinaro (R-NY), Patrick Ryan (D-NY) and Seth Moulton (D-MA). NASHTU conference participants also heard remarks from U.S. DOT Policy Undersecretary Carlos Monje, FHWA Program Manager Jawad Paracha, and Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO President Greg Regan.
On the Tuesday afternoon of the conference, NASHTU members had the opportunity to meet with their state’s congressional delegation and advocate NASHTU’s legislative priorities including limiting the outsourcing of transportation services on federally funded transportation projects, construction zone safety standards, and transportation workforce issues. That evening, NASHTU hosted a well-attended Congressional Reception that included Members of Congress and congressional staff.
The three-day conference also included many informative panels and presentations on transportation safety, workforce recruitment and retention strategies, outsourcing, upcoming legislative battles, labor issues, and other topics of interest.
In the coming weeks, NASHTU will be posting some of the presentations and photos of the 2023 conference on our website at www.nashtu.us. The NASHTU Planning Committee is in the process of scheduling our Second Annual Virtual Fall Conference and the 2024 Spring Conference. Please plan to participate in both – dates and details will follow soon.
NASHTU Notes
August 3, 2023
Congressional Chairmen Ask U.S. DOT for Status of VMT Advisory Board
Recently, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Tom Carper (D-DE) and House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair Sam Graves (R-MO) sent a letter to U.S. DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg asking for an update on establishing an advisory board, as required by the bipartisan infrastructure law, to study an alternative means for securing sustainable funding for the Highway Trust Fund. The board will inform and provide structure for a new, national pilot program to test mileage-based user fees as a replacement for the current gas tax.
The bipartisan infrastructure law, also known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), tasked U.S. DOT with setting up the Federal System Funding Alternative Advisory Board no later than 90 days after enactment. The IIJA was enacted into law on November 15, 2021. The advisory board has not yet been formed.
The previous surface transportation law, the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, provided grants for states to test road usage charges as an alternative to the gas tax. Those pilot programs showed significant promise that using road usage fees could be an alternative source of revenue to sustainably fund transportation programs in the future. The IIJA provides funding for a national pilot program, but this pilot is dependent upon the recommendations of the advisory board.
“The National pilot program will enable Congress to determine the feasibility of road usage charges as a viable funding source and, if they are, to consider these charges during the debate of the next Surface Transportation Authorization bill. We remain concerned that the delay in launching the Advisory Board and the subsequent National pilot program risks preventing the timely development of the data needed for Congress to make an informed decision during that future funding debate,” the letter from Senator Carper and Representative Graves states.
Read the full letter here.