House T&I Committee Outreach Efforts Enhance Opportunities for Success

In early October, I wrote about how transportation legislation should matter to everyone, not just shippers. Turns out I wasn’t alone in my outlook.

Less than a month later, the House committee on Transportation and Infrastructure launched its new website - the latest in a series of tech-forward moves by Chairman Bill Shuster. The concept? Wide digital outreach, modern efficiencies, and smart reform.

Prominently placed in a slideshow within the header of the site is a whiteboard video explaining the significance of the Water Resources Reform and Redevelopment Act of 2013 (WRRDA), which was sponsored by Shuster. The video, viewed here, is part of a genre that might just be the millennials’ answer to the old “How a Bill Becomes a Law.”

According to the new website, the video was a way “to illustrate the fundamental importance of WRRDA to all Americans, regardless of their familiarity with the issue.” And on October 23, the first water bill in six years passed the House… 417-3.

Kudos to the committee for a job well done! If anyone could make #HighwayBill2014 a trending topic on Twitter, my bet’s on Chairman Shuster.