A coalition of heavy-construction organizations in New York state is working to build a national alliance to block the repeal of guaranteed federal funding for the nation’s highway system, an idea proposed by Republicans who hold a majority of seats in the new Congress.

The New York coalition includes the General Contractors Association (GCA) of New York, the Construction Industry Council, the Long Island Contractors’ Association (LICA) and Associated General Contractors (AGC) of New York State. The coalition hopes to gain support for the effort from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the American Trucking Association and the Laborers International Union.

Denise Richardson, managing director of the GCA, said, “America’s highway system has demonstrated mile after mile its ability to create a vibrant, dynamic economy and a stronger, more robust nation. Yet the incoming House Republican majority has unveiled a plan that would repeal guaranteed funding requirements for annual federal highway investment by Washington. It is inconceivable to any taxpayer who has paid for our roads and bridges that the maintenance of these critical arteries would now be left to the political whims of Congress.”

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Paul Posillico, chapter trustee of the AGC of New York said, “This is a highway system that President Dwight Eisenhower had the vision and political will to create, observing later, “More than any single action by the government since the end of the war, this one would change the face of America… Its impact on the American economy — the jobs it would produce in manufacturing and construction, the rural areas it would open up — was beyond calculation.”

Marc Herbst, LICA’s executive director reminded, “If you have any doubts about what would be in store, Congress has failed to pass reauthorization bills for the Federal Aviation Administration for seven years, preferring a series of three months extensions because they can’t agree on its funding provisions.

“The role of the highway system cannot be understated. It has revolutionized interstate commerce. It has created trillions of dollars in investment and untold job creation. Destabilizing our highway system by repealing guaranteed funding is akin to playing kick the can with thermonuclear weapons. You can do it but we wouldn’t advise it,” offered Herbst.

Ross Pepe, president of the Construction Industry Council in Westchester and the Hudson Valley, stated, “Infrastructure has come under attack, to be used a political weapon in a profoundly flawed ideological agenda. This proposed rules change on Capitol Hill is the latest assault on our roads and bridges and it has to stop.”

Richardson concluded, “This is not a New York problem. This isn’t a northeast problem. This is a national problem with a serious funding threat to a strategic asset that stitches the country’s economy together. If we allow dedicated funding to be a political football we will look back on the Recession of 2010 as the good old days. We are moving to create a national industry response to a peril that few yet appreciate but certainly will in the weeks and months to come.”