President’s Message

UCANE Advocacy Continues

As we entered the month of March and inch closer to spring, I know that UCANE members are looking forward to a busy, safe, and productive construction season. While the weather has been warming up, UCANE has already been extremely active advocating for member companies and our industry.

By now members are aware of the welcome news that a large Federal Infrastructure Bill became a reality last year. That, in conjunction with COVID-19 stimulus money, will provide much-need additional funding for infrastructure projects that UCANE has long advocated for. However, as I have mentioned before, we will continue to meet with Federal, State, and local officials to make sure that this funding is utilized and that jobs are put out to bid.

On March 23, we will again be fortunate enough to be joined by MassDEP Commissioner Martin Suuberg, MWRA Executive Director Fred Laskey, and BWSC Chief Engineer John Sullivan at our 10th Annual Forecast Meeting and Trade Show to highlight their capital plans and projects for the upcoming year.

This is also the time of year when the Massachusetts Legislature will be considering the State Budget for the upcoming fiscal year, and UCANE has been busy meeting with legislators from across the State to discuss our priorities and concerns.

However, UCANE’s advocacy work is much more than just lobbying for funds for public infrastructure projects. There were over 8,000 bills filed in the State Legislature that are being considered in the current session, which ends on July 31. Together with our contract lobbyist, Mark Molloy of Cascade Strategies, we have been combing through all of these proposals to find the ones that could have an impact on our companies and our industry. We identify and track these bills, and give written and oral testimony either supporting or opposing these measures.

UCANE has also filed our own legislation, including bills to provide a long-term dedicated revenue stream for water infrastructure, to update the Dig Safe law, increase the lookback time for DCAMM pre-qualification, and to provide consistency among all awarding authorities for how police details are handled as a bid item. We are strongly supporting the passage of all these measures, while opposing overly burdensome regulations and legislation that may negatively impact our industry.

Our members are our best advocates. As the saying goes, “All politics is local,” and your voice truly makes a difference. If you receive an “Action Alert” email from UCANE regarding a piece of legislation, I hope that you will take the time to contact your legislators and speak to them about the matter. If you have any suggestions for additional legislation, or want to stay up-to-date on what we are working on, please feel free to contact the UCANE office and register to attend one of our monthly Government Relations Meetings. Our Association is strong because our members are engaged, informed, and involved. We look

to continue that trend in 2022. n