Steve Sandherr, Chief Executive Officer, Associated General Contractors of America
Biography provided by participant
Stephen Sandherr joined the AGC of America staff in 1984 as Assistant Director of Collective Bargaining Services. From 1986 to 1989 he served as AGC's Director of Congressional Relations. He practiced law with the firm of Thompson, Mann and Hutson in Washington, DC from 1989 to 1990, and served as Labor and Small Business Counsel for the National Association of Home Builders from 1990 to 1991. He rejoined AGC as Executive Director of Congressional Relations and was promoted to Chief Executive Officer in 1997.
Currently, as Chief Executive Officer, Sandherr's role is to maintain relations with AGC's 96 chapters nationwide, coordinate government relations activities and enhance AGC's involvement with business coalitions. In 2006, the American Society of Association Executives cited AGC as one of 9 "remarkable" associations in its landmark study "7 Measures of Success: What Remarkable Associations Do That Others Don't."
Sandherr is a 1980 graduate of the University of Scranton with a B.S. in Political Science. He earned his law degree from the Catholic University of America in 1983, and is a member of the Bar of the District of Columbia. He is a trustee of the National Building Museum in Washington.
He resides with his wife, Cynthia, in Alexandria, Virginia.
There's no doubt public private partnerships must, and will, play a significant role in financing vital transportation projects. Especially is densely populated urban and suburban areas with the potential for sustainable toll revenues, we need to make it easier for privately funded projects to supplement existing sources of transportation revenue. That is why our construction industry recovery plan, "Build Now for the Future,", calls on Congress and the Administration to eliminate barriers to public private partnerships by giving states greater flexibility to allow for tolling. Municipalities also should be able to more easily privatize airports and accept private investments in transit. … Read more
Based on our analysis of the impacts of the stimulus to-date, the transportation portion is clearly having a positive impact on construction firms’ ability to save jobs. Indeed, over 60 percent of construction companies with stimulus-funded projects report it has allowed them to retain existing staff. Given that the vast majority of stimulus construction dollars that have been awarded are within the transportation sector, it is clear that portion of the stimulus is working. More important, the stimulus is already beginning to have an impact of construction firms’ purchasing patterns. Over 40 percent of construction companies with stimulus-funded work report they plan to spend… Read more
The bottom line is that nobody knows how transportation will be affected by a cap and trade proposal until we know how the emission caps will increase the cost of transportation and the revenue generated by it will be used. Since most estimates indicate a cap and trade scheme would increase the costs of fuel somewhere between $0.30 and $0.40 a gallon, the real question is will this money be reinvested in transportation? If the answer is yes, then it comes down to where and how those new resources are invested. We must take every opportunity to strike a healthy balance between… Read more
In one word, the answer is yes. Yes we should use every possible financing approach available to us to help meet our present and future transportation needs. Yes, once credit markets recover, public-private partnerships will play an increasingly important role in financing transportation projects. Yes to increased reliance on toll revenue, especially considering that the majority of major highway projects underway or under consideration are tolled facilities. Yes to increased use of innovative lending tools like the federal government’s Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loans. And yes to long-term approaches like charging drives by their vehicle miles traveled instead of their gas… Read more
One of the reasons Americans have been hesitant to make greater investments in transportation is because they see so much of the money they currently pay going to fund niche programs and special interest projects that do little to improve commutes, cut shipping times or stimulate new economic growth. The answer is to return to the roots of the modern federal transportation program. Instead of 108 different goals, the original focus was to better connect the American people and their economic activity. It was a goal that was as effective as it was focused. Within the span of a few short years,… Read more
Given the recent questions that have been raised, by a quickly discredited CBO report, about just how fast infrastructure investments will stimulate new economic activity, we need to make sure the final legislation does everything possible to appropriately accelerate the flow of funds. It is important for everyone involved in this process to remember that the stimulus is designed to provide immediate investments that will put people back to work, jump start the economy and deliver long-term benefits. While there are any number of worthy-sounding policy reforms that ought to be considered quickly by Congress, the stimulus is not the… Read more
There is little doubt that the stimulus proposal that emerged yesterday was a victim of the extraordinarily high expectations that have been put on it. It is a sad reflection of the tremendous economic pressures many are facing that the difference between success and failure for many businesses will be determined by the final figures in the stimulus package. So it is easy to understand the desire for even more funds that many, including our members, are expressing. That being said, the proposal includes significant measures designed to ensure that these new investments will be immediate, transparent and effective. The… Read more
Our approach to transportation has long been based on a simple concept, transportation user fees would be used for a single purpose – investing in transportation infrastructure. If Americans think their transportation dollars are being used for other purposes, even noble minded ones like environmental initiatives, they will continue to walk away from user fees. While nobody doubts the wisdom of encouraging greener, more fuel efficient vehicles, relying on user fees like the gas tax to achieve those outcomes sets a dangerous precedent. Diverting our already strained user fee revenue away from core transportation projects, even to do something well-minded like… Read more
The biggest challenge facing Secretary-designate LaHood is that Americans have lost confidence in the value of investing in transportation infrastructure. It wasn’t always that way. Americans – proud that we had built the world’s most efficient and effective transportation network - were once happy to pay for transportation projects. But over time, thanks to earmarks, wasteful spending, and growing traffic, that pride has been replaced with amusement, frustration and even anger. Today many Americans are reluctant to invest in transportation because they have no confidence that money will be spent on the kind of projects that matter. This lack of confidence has… Read more
It’s important to remember what the President-elect is trying to accomplish with these new infrastructure investments – stimulate new jobs and new economic growth. The best way to do that is to identify the kind of projects that can put people to work and get money flowing into the economy as quickly as possible. Most states have projects that have already completed lengthy and thorough environmental reviews, have been permitted and are ready to go. In many cases these infrastructure projects have been identified as part of states’ long-term planning because they are most needed for reducing traffic congestion, improving safety… Read more
Biography provided by participant
