CONFIANZA CONSULTING, INC.
TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA

We are a government and public affairs consulting firm built on trusted relationships and effective grassroots strategies. Confianza Consulting, Inc. was founded by Matthew D. Ubben in March of 2001. Ubben’s public affairs experience spans three decades and two hemispheres. He most recently lead the Florida Transportation Commission as executive director, where he has previously served as public affairs director in the late 1990s. Ubben worked with nine Governor-appointed Commissioners from throughout the state to provide leadership to meet Florida’s transportation needs through policy guidance on issues of statewide importance and by maintaining oversight and public accountability for the Department of Transportation. Prior to the Commission, Ubben served as President of Floridians for Better Transportation, where he championed the cause of transportation investment and convened a series of annual high-profile transportation summits. Previously, Ubben was vice president of the Florida Trucking Association for five years. Having grown up in the Canal Zone, Republic of Panama, Ubben retains strong ties to Panama and has led several successful missions to Panama for Florida transportation leaders to leverage the expansion of the Panama Canal to Florida’s benefit. Besides his transportation background, Ubben has extensive experience in Florida government, having served former Lt. Gov. Frank Brogan when he was Commission of Education; serving as legislative and Cabinet Affairs director for the Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs, and Director of External Affairs for the Division of State Group Insurance. Scenario Development for the 2015 Quadrennial Energy Review: Assessing the Stresses, Opportunities, and Resilience in the Transmission, Storage, and Distribution Systems for Oil, Refined Products, Electricity, and Natural Gas Urban Responses to Climate Change: Framework for Decisionmaking and Supporting Indicators : Congressional Quarterly; Environment and Energy Daily; Investor's Business Daily; Washington Post ”, says: “To help build a better future for all Americans, I ask the Congress to act soon on an infrastructure bill that will: stimulate at least $1.5 trillion in new investment over the next 10 years, shorten the process for approving projects to 2 years or less, address unmet rural infrastructure needs, empower State and local authorities, and train the American workforce of the future.” The president adds, “My administration is committed to working with the Congress to enact a law that will enable America’s builders to construct new, modern, and efficient infrastructure throughout our beautiful land.” Transformative Projects Program ($20 billion) would provide federal funding for, “bold, innovative, and transformative infrastructure projects that could dramatically improve infrastructure” but are, for various reasons, considered too risky for private sector investment. The U.S. Department of Commerce would oversee this program, with consultation as needed from other departments, and eligibility would include all previously mentioned uses of infrastructure as well as “commercial space”. Up to 50 percent of planning costs and 80 percent of construction costs could come from this program. Federal Capital Financing Fund ($10 billion) to help federal agencies purchase real property and pay for it over a 15-year period rather than the current requirement that this be done within one year. The fund would help finance these purchases and the relevant department would repay the fund in 15 installments via annual appropriations. The aim is to save money in the long run by hopefully avoiding some cost-prohibitive leases. The administration’s proposal would enable states to toll existing Interstate facilities, and use tool revenues to benefit certain surface transportation infrastructure projects beyond the scope of the tolled facility itself. Similarly, states would be able to commercialize rest areas on Interstate highways, provided they “reinvest” the proceeds in the same corridor. Allow the disposition of federal real property, making it easier to sell federal government-owned assets that may better be managed or owned by states, localities or the private sector. The proposal also calls for changes to major environmental laws impacting transportation construction. Specifically, the plan would remove EPA from the wetlands permitting process (making the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers solely responsible for such permits) and eliminate EPA’s ability to retroactively veto Clean Water Act permits. Additionally, the Clean Air Act’s transportation conformity process would be altered by requiring that it apply only to the most recent set of National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). This would eliminate the problem of counties struggling to meet old standards when new ones are introduced. The plan would also eliminate duplicative regulatory requirements for historic sites and parklands. The budget deal combined with the Trump administration’s infrastructure package release make the transportation sections of the FY2019 budget somewhat subdued. However, the president’s budget is helpful in that it demonstrate the areas the administration feels should be emphasized and those that may be reduced or eliminated. Congress controls the “power of the purse,” however, and will make most of the funding decisions, despite the administration’s request. First, the administration’s budget assumes a freeze on new contract authority and obligations at $43.969 billion per year through FY 2028. By contrast, the FAST Act provides for annual growth of just above 2 percent, or close to $1 billion, annually. A freeze thus means the obligation limitation in FY 2028 would be about $10 billion less than continuation of the FAST Act. The Mass Transit Account of the Highway Trust Fund is the source of funding for the Transit Formula Grants program, which includes money for a wide variety of transit needs, including operations and maintenance of urban transit facilities, bus purchase and repair, repairs to fixed guideway transit systems, transit programs in rural areas, and transit for seniors and persons with disabilities, among others. For FY 2019, the Trump administration proposes to provide $9.90 billion for the Transit Formula Grant program, down from $10.5 billion in FY 2018. Longer term, like the highway program, the Highway Trust Fund can continue to pay for the transit program only for another couple years before revenue constraints force a cut. Following FY 2021, the administration’s budget proposes a reduction in outlays for the transit formula program from $10.1 billion to $6.3 billion in FY 2023 and beyond. Absent new revenues, this would mean significant program cuts or a greater burden on state and local governments to fund mass transit needs.