The White House said that the unveiling of President Donald Trump’s infrastructure proposal would again be delayed, citing the recent government shutdown. The announcement came just one day after the President said that his plan would arrive “in a week or two, right after the State of the Union Address.”
02-01-2018 President Donald Trump called on Congress to produce a bipartisan $1.5 trillion bill for new infrastructure investment during his first State of the Union address last night, saying it would provide a safe, fast, reliable and modern infrastructure that the U.S. economy needs.
01-31-2018 A draft document leaked to press on Jan. 22 and widely speculated to be the funding principles for the Trump Administration’s long-awaited infrastructure plan called for liberalizing tolling policy and allowing states to commercialize interstate rest areas among its proposals for funding infrastructure, both of which would dramatically undercut businesses that operate at the Interstate exits.
01-23-2018 While infrastructure funding ranks among the top issues for truckstops and travel plaza operators, it’s just one of many issues in which NATSO will engage in 2018. Here’s an overview of the top NATSO issues that will be in play this year.
01-02-2018 A coalition of trade associations representing a broad cross-section of highway-based businesses and local communities urged Arizona’s federal lawmakers to oppose efforts to commercialize Interstate rest areas, including Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey’s recent petition to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to allow the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) to operate commercial rest areas under a pilot program.
12-06-2017 Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said Dec. 5 that the Trump Administration’s massive infrastructure package won’t arrive until next year, possibly after a health care and welfare overhaul. The timeline projection marks yet another delay for the massive infrastructure plan that President Trump had promised as one of his priorities for the first 100 days in office.
12-05-2017 Commercializing rest areas in Arizona would bring more harm than good to the state’s local businesses and communities, according to Michael Bowlin, President of Bowlin Travel Centers. Responding to an editorial in the Sierra Vista Herald, Bowlin said that his business and others operating at the interstate exits would suffer a dramatic drop in sales and subsequently a corresponding drop in employees and tax receipts if the state is allowed to commercialize rest areas directly on the Interstate Highway System.
11-27-2017 President Donald Trump reiterated Nov. 20 that a massive infrastructure plan will be the Administration’s next priority once Congress finishes tax reform.
11-20-2017 Arizona Gov. Douglas Ducey petitioned the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to allow the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) to operate commercial rest areas under a pilot program, a move that threatens the truckstop and travel plaza industry as well as other businesses operating near Interstate exits.
11-06-2017 The President’s chief economic advisor on Oct. 25 raised the possibility of increasing the federal motor fuels tax next year to help pay for the Administration’s $1 trillion infrastructure plan.
10-25-2017 Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao reaffirmed that DOT still expects private financing to play a role in the Administration’s infrastructure plan despite recent criticism of public-private partnerships by President Trump. Secretary Chao also said that work on an infrastructure package will not begin until after Congress works on tax reform, squashing suggestions that a tax code overhaul could be used to pay for an infrastructure package.
10-24-2017