ATSSA Accomplishments Report 2018

American Traffic Safety Services Association 4 Garret Graves (R-La.), and Esty, as well as other trade association executives. ATSSA also traveled to our association’s chapter meetings to give in-person updates on issues affecting the roadway safety infrastructure industry at the federal and state levels of government. Those chapters included: Heart of America, Rocky Mountain, Arkansas, Carolinas, Georgia, New England, Pennsylvania, Northwest, and Ohio. ATSSA PAC Through the ATSSA Political Action Commit tee (PAC), the association supported members of Congress and congressional candidates who champi- oned roadway safety infrastructure issues, transportation funding, and understand the needs of the broader infrastructure community. Supporters of the ATSSA PAC attended fundraisers to support these candidates, and the association hosted events for these roadway safety champions as well. Additionally, ATSSA hosted meet and greet events with the candidates to better educate potential members of Congress on roadway safety infrastructure issues. These candidates included: Jared Golden (Maine), Abigail Spanberger (Virginia), Xochitl Torres Small (New Mexico), Paul Davis (Kansas), Chris Pappas (New Hampshire), Anthony Brindisi (New York), Greg Stanton (Arizona), and MJ Hegar (Texas). Through ATSSA PAC, the association also participated in retreats with the Blue Dog PAC, Republican Main Street Partnership PAC, Reps. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.), and Graves. For more infor- mation on the ATSSA PAC, please contact ATSSA at govrelations@atssa.com . State Government Relations This is year two of ATSSA’s State Government Relations Program. During 2018’s state legislative sessions, ATSSA tracked bills relevant to roadway safety and roadway safety infrastructure funding. State legislative reports and highlighted bills were disseminated to ATSSA membership via the Roadway Safety Advocate email newsletter, chapter meetings, and The Signal to provide members and chapters information on pending and passed state legislation affecting the roadway safety infrastruc- ture industry. ATSSA’s State Government Relations Programwas able tohelp chapters engage with their state legislators through the following activities: The Arizona Chapter of ATSSA hosted Arizona state Rep. Drew John (R-Ariz.), vice chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee at their Marchmeeting inPhoenix. Johndiscussed Arizona HB 2166, a bill that would create a new fee dedicated to the Department of Public Safety (DPS). This is important because the state is currently taking $84 millionper year fromthe ArizonaHighway Trust Fund (which pays for construction and maintenance of roads and bridges) to pay for DPS services. The bill passed the legislature and was signed by the governor in late April, now freeing up funds previously used on DPS services to be used for highway maintenance. The California ATSSA (CAL-ATSSA) chapter remains activeon the SB1gas tax increase thatwas the cornerstoneof their advocacy day in 2017. Although the bill passed the legislature and became law, it faced an uphill battle as there was an effort to repeal SB 1. The CAL-ATSSA advocacy committee completed a resource packet toassistCAL-ATSSAmembers incombating the SB 1 repeal effort. CAL-ATSSA joined the “No on Prop 6” coalition and worked to disseminate information, updates, and resources to chaptermembers ahead of theNovember 6 elections. Additionally, a few active chapter members joined the No on Prop 6 speakers bureau to serve as spokespersons to local groups on the benefits of SB 1. Prop 6 was defeated at the polls on Nov. 6, keeping SB 1 and critical transportation funding intact for the state. California state Sen. Pat Bates (R-Calif.), vice chair of the California Senate Appropriations Committee, participated in a site visit at TrafFix Devices, Inc., headquartered inSanClemente, California where she had the opportunity to meet with the company’s leadership, tour the plant floor, and see a Scorpion Truck- Mounted Attenuator. The CAL-ATSSA chapter also hosted then-California state Sen. Josh Newman (D-Calif.) at their April chaptermeeting inSacramento, California. The Heart of America-ATSSA chapter (HOA-ATSSA) participated in an advocacy day at the Kansas House in conjunction with Economic Lifelines, a coalition that provides grassroot s suppor t for Comprehensive Transportation Programs in Kansas. HOA-ATSSA had a booth in the capitol rotunda with HOA-ATSSA chapter-specific materials and ATSSA case studies as takeaways for legislators and their staff. Leading up to the midterm elections, HOA-ATSSA took a position to support Missouri Proposition D, a statutory refer- endum to fund Missouri state law enforcement and maintenance for highways, bridges, roads, and streets. If it had passed, Prop D would have generated about $412 million a year in new money for transportation. The Kentucky Chapter of ATSSA hosted Kentucky state Sen. Ernie Harris (R-Ken.), chairman of the Kentucky Senate Transportation Committee. Sen. Harris is becoming a regular at ATSSA events; last year he sat down with ATSSA’s Government Relations Committee at their Midyear Meeting in Louisville, Kentucky. The New England Chapter of ATSSA (NE-ATSSA) sent a letter to the Vermont House and Senate Transpor tation Committees to raise awareness for highway work zone safety and invite them to the chapter’s National Work Zone Awareness Week (NWZAW) event that took place on April 3 in Montpelier, Vermont. Vermont Gov. Phil Scott (R-Ver.) spoke at the event and issued a procla- mation for NWZAW. ATSSA immediate past chair Deb Ricker testified before the Vermont House Transportation Committee on NWZAW and the impor- tance of work zone safety and related safety bills. As a result, Vermont House Government Relations