Groups Gear Up to Shape Legislative Agenda

s soon as the 109th Congress was gaveled into session last month, interest groups and lobbyists cranked up their operations for the new year as well. They hoped to exert some influence on several items on their agendas — including a new multiyear highway bill, a settled version of hours of service for drivers and improvements in homeland security regulations.

In a recent survey of leading trade associations and interest groups with a stake in transportation, the issue most commonly pointed to as “key” for 2005 was the passage of a new six-year spending package for the nation’s highway projects.

Since the last multiyear bill expired in September 2003, Congress has passed a series of stopgap measures aimed at keeping funding flowing to the nation’s highway infrastructure.