Lynch to Serve as ASLRRA VP, Congressional Affairs
Written by Andrew Corselli
The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) has selected Tom Lynch as Vice President, Congressional Affairs, completing ASLRRA’s new in-house legislative team.
Lynch comes to ASLRRA after an extensive Washington, D.C.-based career in transportation and infrastructure legislative and policy work. Lynch, along with recently-hired Mara Stark-Alcalá, will lead ASLRRA’s efforts to pursue legislative support for issues facing short line railroads including tax policy, infrastructure grant programs and surface transportation policy.
In the Senate, Lynch worked extensively on infrastructure funding, including the short line railroad tax credit (45G), the various transportation trust funds, user fees and lending programs while working for U.S. Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) on both the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and the Finance Committee. He was also a key negotiator and drafter of the 2012 surface transportation law, MAP-21 (Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century), and a tax title negotiator for the Federal Aviation Administration Modernization and Reform Act of 2012.
Prior to that, Lynch served as a Legislative Director in the U.S. House of Representatives for Nick J. Rahall, II (D-WV) from 2002 – 2005, covering transportation and infrastructure issues such as freight rail, rail-highway grade crossings, Amtrak, and a broad range of other domestic policy matters including appropriations and budgeting, the environment, homeland security and labor.
Most recently, working at Ice Miller Strategies, LLC and Ice Miller, LLP, Lynch led regulatory and policy affairs strategies across fields such as transportation and infrastructure, tax, and trade for a range of clients from the various transportation modes and other industries.
Lynch, a graduate of James Madison University and a holder of a J.D. from Georgia State University, College of Law, has also served as Vice President and General Counsel to the National Tank Truck Carriers, Inc., a national/international trade association representing bulk haulers and OEMs and other associate members in a heavily regulated multi-billion-dollar trucking sector carrying products ranging from dry food products to liquid hazardous materials. He was additionally a senior sales executive for Philip Services Corp. and Allwaste Container Services, Inc., serving the hazmat and non-hazardous transportation industries.
“Tom brings substantial experience, including stints in the private sector, the Association world and on Capitol Hill, to our team,” said Chuck Baker, President, ASLRRA. “One of many highlights of his leadership that will serve our Association well was his role as a Senior Committee staffer ‘in the room’ as Congress hammered out several major transportation bills. I look forward to his partnership in addressing our members’ legislative priorities.”
“My introduction to the needs of the short line freight rail industry came nearly two decades ago when I first worked in the House,” said Lynch. “Then later, during my time in the Senate, I was able to see infrastructure and rail needs firsthand nationwide and in Montana. I’m pleased to be joining the Association representing a really dynamic industry at such a crucial time, and look forward to working on members’ behalf to ensure that the short line freight industry is well-positioned for growth, able to meet the needs of thousands of shippers in the U.S. and serve as the vital freight connection linking small-town and rural America with our national network.”
