The EPA and USDA have rolled out two new tools to help rural and small water and wastewater systems provide sustainable services to their communities. The first, a new Rural and Small Systems Guidebook to Sustainable Utility Management, will help those systems assess their strengths and priorities for potential improvements,... Continue reading

The current transportation authorization bill (“MAP-21”) expires next year. A recently-released report from the Congressional Research Service (CRS) says that if Congress were to pass a six-year transportation reauthorization bill that increases spending on surface transportation programs in line with inflation, it would need to fill a nearly $80 billion... Continue reading

Members of Congress headed home last week for 5 weeks. Some call it recess, some call it vacation, and some call it district work period. Regardless of what it’s called, Members are back in their districts and now is a good time to communicate your priorities directly to your elected... Continue reading

On June 5, TSA announced that it is dropping its highly contentious plan to allow small knives on commercial flights. TSA issued the following statement: "TSA strongly values the input of our partners and traveling public, and appreciates the varying points of view shared throughout the review process. After extensive... Continue reading

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor will give it to you. Cantor announced that Cosponsor.Gov launched on June 4. This is an expansion of the Citizen Cosponsor Project that “helps foster a national conversation between the American public and their elected officials.” Cosponsor.Gov will feature every bill and resolution introduced in... Continue reading

The FEMA Grants Office has begun to announce awards for the FY 2012 Fire Protection and Safety (FP&S) grant program, and has released a tentative timeline for FY 2013 solicitations. In June, the SAFER application period will open – providing an opportunity to secure funds for personnel. In July/August, the... Continue reading

On Friday afternoon, the Department of Transportation began notifying congressional offices that the FAA will continue funding through September for the 149 contract towers slated to lose funding on June 15, 2013. Shortly thereafter, the airports received an email from FAA to confirm. The TFG-managed General Aviation Airport Coalition was... Continue reading

It is with great pride and privilege that I report that the Mayor of my hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina, has been selected by President Obama to be the next Secretary of Transportation. Anthony Foxx, 42 today, has been slated as a rising star in the Democratic Party – he... Continue reading

On Monday afternoon, the Senate approved a procedural motion that will allow the upper chamber to consider and vote on the Marketplace Fairness Act later this week. This bill would allow state and local governments to enforce their sales and use tax laws on “remote sellers.” These remote sellers include... Continue reading

A report issued by the American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) says that state departments of transportation and local governments committed a little over $117 billion in funding for highway, bridge, transit, port, and other transportation-related construction projects in 2012. The 2012 number represents a one percent increase over... Continue reading

The 2008 farm bill expires at the end of September and Congress will not return to Washington until mid-September. That means a lot of negotiating must be done in August to move this bill before it expires. The Senate passed its version of the 2012 farm bill in June, and... Continue reading

The House Agriculture Committee approved H.R. 6083, the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2012, just before 1:00 a.m. this morning after a day-long markup yesterday (vote was 35-11). Lawmakers preserved $16 billion in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamp program), defeating amendments that would... Continue reading

Last week, the Senate passed the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2012, S. 3240, by a vote of 64-35 after voting on nearly 70 amendments. Of particular interest to local governments, the bill reauthorizes various broadband programs - the Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grant program is reauthorized with... Continue reading

Yesterday, May 10, 2012, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced that the Department of Transportation is eliminating certain across-the-board deadlines for sign replacement. The DOT’s Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices requires state and local governments to replace regulatory, warning and ground-mounted guide signs by January 2015, and overhead guide... Continue reading