TTC lobbyists pool war chests, plot PR offensive on Washington

Firms Forming Pro-P3 Lobbying Group

7/18/07
by Humberto Sanchez
The Bond Buyer

WASHINGTON — A Wall Street investment bank and two foreign firms seeking to invest in U.S. transportation infrastructure are backing an effort to form a lobbying group that will promote public-private partnerships to lawmakers in the wake of concerns raised about whether these deals are in the public interest.

The group, identified as the Coalition for Strengthening America’s Infrastructure, has been provided “seed funding” by Goldman, Sachs & Co., Macquarie Bank Ltd., Transurban Group, and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation officials, which represents the state transportation departments in Washington, according to preliminary promotional documents obtained by The Bond Buyer. The documents did not disclose how much money was provided.

Peter Loughlin, with Loughlin Enterprises LLC, a lobbyist and attorney who is putting the coalition together, declined to comment for this article other than to say that the coalition is still in the formative stage and that the group’s membership has not been fully determined.

The firms involved in the effort also were reluctant to talk about the creation of the new lobbying group. A spokesman for Goldman declined to comment. A spokesman for Macquarie said the bank has not provided seed money, but has been involved with the group-forming effort. And a spokeswoman for Transurban said that while the company provided an unspecified amount of funding, it stipulated that the payment was for Loughlin to explore the formation of the group and not to fund the group’s operations.

AASHTO did not return a phone call seeking comment and sources said it has backed out of the coalition because not all of its members support P3s.

Group organizers hosted a “kick-off meeting,” titled “A Call To Action” on June 22 in New York City where former New York Gov. George E. Pataki, one-time U.S. House Majority leader Dick A. Gephardt, former Colorado Gov. Bill Owens, and the prior acting U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Maria Cino all spoke in favor of P3s, according to sources.

They were unavailable for comment.

The coalition would broadly “focus on education and advocacy” and “pursue an agenda … that ensures public-private partnership solutions remain available as a financing and delivery tool to enhance our nation’s transportation system,” according to the promotional documents.

The group would also “work towards removing legislative and regulatory barriers that restrict the full utilization of public-private partnerships and opposing any efforts to impose additional restrictions on public-private partnerships,” the documents said.

In addition, the coalition would support increased federal transportation funding to state and local governments, but “with public-private partnerships positioned as viable, available, and sound alternatives.”

Another goal of the group is to counter criticism from Congress and Americans for a Strong National Highway Network, a group formed in February to oppose highway privatization deals. Members of the P3 opposition group include the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, which represents small business truckers, and the American Trucking Association.

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