An enthusiastic delegation of CalAPA members carried the "fix the roads" message to the state Capitol in Sacramento last week to a largely receptive audience of elected officials and staff.

The association's annual "Fly-In" to Sacramento reinforced the consistent message the association has been conveying for decades: protect dollars intended for road maintenance, and use those dollars for their intended purpose. Lawmakers were reminded that 95% of California roads are surfaced with asphalt, meaning there is no aspect to state life that is not touched by the product that CalAPA members produce and place.

“When our industry shows up together, our voice carries further," said Aimi Dutra with Dutra Materials, a CRH Company. She is the newly minted chair of the CalAPA Legislative Committee. "The CalAPA Fly-in was our opportunity to tell our story, highlight our impact, and reinforce why what we do matters. We showed up and delivered a unified message, fix our roads, protect the funding voters approved and keep moving California forward.”

Among those who were receptive to the CalAPA message was Assemblywoman Lori Wilson, D-Suisun City, chair of the Assembly Transportation Committee. She continues to display in her office the dented can presented to her at a previous CalAPA event as a reminder not to "kick the can down the road" on transportation funding.

Similarly, Sen. Tony Strickland, R-Huntington Beach, Vice Chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, pulled out the asphalt road scarf presented to him earlier this year at the CalAPA Annual Dinner in Los Angeles to show he has not forgotten the asphalt industry message.

This year's CalAPA delegation included board leadership who are also veterans of citizen advocacy in Sacramento, including immediate past Chairman Scott Metcalf with Ergon Asphalt & Emulsions and another past chairman, Scott Fraser with Pavement Recycling Systems. Current CalAPA Chair Frank Costa with Martin Marietta, and new board member and officer Phil Reader with the Reed Family Companies, also represented the CalAPA board leadership. Participating in some events included John Reid with CRH, Peter Lambert with McGuire & Hester, and CalAPA Intern Coral Richardson, a graduate student majoring in political science at UC Davis who was getting an up-close look at advocacy in action.

In addition to the scheduled appointments March 17-18 with elected officials and staff, and a casual dinner with state Sen. Tim Grayson, the event included many impromptu encounters that are typical of the Fly-ins and reinforce the truism that in-person engagements are the most effective tool in the advocacy toolbox.

Timing also plays an important role, such as the recent budget proposal to drain $350 million a year from the highway fund to subsidize the manufacture of a specific type of aviation fuel. Multiple organizations, including CalAPA, have taken the position that this is not an appropriate use of funds intended to fix pavements.

Policy discussions in the meetings included why, after the passage of the landmark Senate Bill 1, the Road Repair & Accountability Act of 2017, that California continues to rank 43rd nationally in pavement smoothness, according to the Federal Highway Administration. CalAPA analysis of Caltrans data has shown pavement repair projects have not kept pace with SB1 funding. Also part of the discussions: a long-term goal of replacing the current fuel tax model that is the backbone of transportation funding but which is under duress due to the proliferation of electric vehicles in California. CalAPA is part of a broad business-labor-community coalition studying alternate methods of funding future road maintenance.

CalAPA's "Fly-in" was coordinated by the association's Capitol advocates, Carpenter Garcia Sievers, recently named once again by the Sacramento Business Journal as one of the top lobbying firms in Sacramento. Jeff Sievers, Beverly Yu and Iridia Ayrapetyan shuttled participants from meeting to meeting ensure maximum exposure over the two-day event. The importance of consistency, focus and repetition were evident when, prior to the start of one meeting, a legislative staffer remarked dryly, "Here come the asphalt people again."

During a debrief lunchtime meeting with the CalAPA Board of Directors at the historic Sutter Club, the group was reminded that legislative advocacy is not an event, but an ongoing process. To that end, several follow-up engagements, including possible facility tours, came out of the Fly-in.

To learn more about CalAPA's advocacy mission, click HERE. Additional photos from the association's Sacramento Fly-in are posted on CalAPA's various social media channels, including the CalAPA Facebook page HERE.

Dina El-Tawansy, the governor's appointee to be Caltrans director, cleared an important legislative hurdle last week when her appointment was unanimously endorsed by the state Senate Rules Committee.

El-Tawansy, a career Caltrans manager and former regional director in the San Francisco Bay Area, has been in the job since July 1. She was appointed to fill the position vacated when Tony Tavares departed Caltrans to be executive director of the Alameda County Transportation Commission. Her appointment requires Senate confirmation.

El-Tawansy's appointment enjoyed broad support, including by CalAPA and the CalAPA-supported Transportation California coalition. A coalition letter in support of her nomination is HERE. The March 19 vote by the Senate Rules Committee to forward her appointment to the Senate floor with a confirmation recommendation was unanimous. Her appointment is expected to receive routine approval by the full Senate.

A previous Asphalt Insider story about El-Tawansy is HERE. Her official biography is HERE. Last week's Asphalt Insider story that noted the trend of El-Tawansy and many other prominent women in leadership positions in the asphalt industry and public agencies that interact with the asphalt industry is HERE. A previous issue of CalAPA's association magazine, California Asphalt, that highlights the Women of Asphalt California Branch and other prominent women in the world of asphalt is HERE.

The race for Los Angeles Mayor has largely been a ho-hum affair, with Mayor Karen Bass seeking re-election and a few other challenges struggling to gain recognition by voters with the June 2 primary fast approaching.

But an important item that appeared in a poll of voters last week that was worth noting: Among the top concerns of voters in Los Angeles: fixing the streets, ranking only behind housing affordability as the top issue.

The survey by the U.C. Berkely Institute of Governmental Studies, co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times and released Sunday, found Bass was supported by just 25% of voters, but with an unfavorable rating of 56%. Other candidates, including reality TV personality Spencer Pratt and City Council Member Nithya Raman, were polling in the teens, with about a quarter of voters undecided.

In the poll, voters ranked their top priorities for the next mayor as building more affordable housing, followed by fixing streets, sidewalks and streetlights. This may spell more trouble for Bass, who as mayor oversees the city's vast street maintenance forces and two city-owned asphalt plants. Recent reports that the Bureau of Street Services has virtually stopped repaving projects in the city will no doubt create for some awkward questions at candidate appearances. It's also a reminder that voters notice when basic city services like well-maintained streets are neglected.

A previous Asphalt Insider report on the city's street maintenance program can be found HERE.

With Artificial Intelligence-powered tools in the news on a daily basis, for better or for worse, one of the most useful ones for the asphalt industry is worth noting once again. The "Hey NAPA" tool, developed by the National Asphalt Pavement Association, a CalAPA partner, draws upon credible research and reports to return helpful answers to a myriad of asphalt-related questions. The tool also includes citations of the original source material, an important feature that helps facilitate more in-depth inquires. According to NAPA, additional information continues to be added to its pool of knowledge to make its results even more useful. To access the "Hey NAPA" tool click HERE.

Each week we highlight a word, acronym or other term commonly used in the asphalt pavement industry in California.

CROWN: A measure of the elevation of the center of the road in relation to the outside edges of the road surface.

Each week we highlight a key point or best practice of interest to asphalt paving crews, inspectors and others working in the field. We welcome suggestions. More tips can be found in our "Asphalt Parking Lot Construction Checklist" HERE. Information on the CalAPA "Quality Paving Certificate" program is HERE.

SUBSOIL: Is the base layer/subsoil firm and unyielding under the pressure of repeated

construction trucks? Is the soil dry enough to support heavy construction? Can the soil hold its shape under loaded trucks? If the site is wet, postpone until the site is sufficiently dry and can be proof rolled and uniform stability is obtained.

Each week we highlight a term that is specific to climate-change issues related to the asphalt pavement industry. This feature is intended to raise awareness of the asphalt industry's climate-change initiatives and the specialized terminology that goes with them. More information on "The Road Forward" asphalt industry climate initiative can be found HERE. A recent CalAPA magazine story on the topic is HERE.

SPEED OF CONSTRUCTION: Quick construction techniques, practices, and materials for satisfaction.

Editor's Note: As a convenience to our readers, Asphalt Insider reports the most current Caltrans "Statewide Crude Oil Price Index" posting. The department posts this monthly on its public website HERE. The index is used to calculate payment adjustments for paving asphalt under special provisions section "Payment Adjustments for Price Index Fluctuations" in those projects containing the section. The department posts the index on or about the first business day of the month using the daily Brent crude oil prices from the previous month as reported by Business Insider. Inquiries about the index should be directed to Caltrans at: Oil.Index@dot.ca.gov .

March 2026: $375.6 ($/ton)

Last month: $347.6

1 year ago: $406.4

"Work for justice.”

– Dolores Huerta

We hope you enjoy CalAPA's Asphalt Insider newsletter, widely regarded as the most influential publication of its type in California. We are committed to providing you with the most up-to-date information on technical issues, regulation, news, analysis, people, events and trends in California that is of interest to the asphalt pavement industry and our various agency partners. To subscribe to the newsletter, click HERE. For comments, questions or to suggest a story idea, click HERE. We are committed to promptly notifying our readers of any errors in this publication. Please click on the comment link above to alert the editor of any errors or omissions.

Sincerely,

Russell W. Snyder, CAE

Executive Director

The California Asphalt Pavement Association (CalAPA)®