The Start Us Up USA campaign, which we’ve written about a couple of times in recent days (here and here) is starting to get the attention of the national press. Note the discussion around heavy equipment and construction in this article from today’s Wall St. Journal:

But without a reauthorization bill to replace the existing law, transportation funding remains at current levels for an indefinite period. That has made states and companies reluctant to start new, long-term projects until they know how much the future funding will be.

Mr. Hammack, president of C.W. Matthews Contracting Co., one of the largest road-construction companies in Georgia, said the ripple effect of the delay has already reached firms like his. His company had already laid off 700 of its 2,000 employees since 2007 because of the recession.

Now the delay in passage of the transportation-bill reauthorization and the dearth of state contracts means he’s planning to lay off as many as 200 more employees by the end of the year.

“You can’t proceed under business as normal when there’s no clear direction out there,” he said. “It’s too dangerous to bet on the future and put your company in financial jeopardy.”

For more information on the campaign, visit the Start Us Up USA Web site.