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A stalemate in Washington could bring construction in Florida grinding to a halt. The state has already lost half of its construction jobs since the recession began. As Whitney Ray tell us, thousands more could be lost if Congress doesn’t act by July.

There was a time when dust from these cement trucks filled the air at this concrete plant in Tallahassee. Today, only half of the trucks have drivers, the other half sit empty, victims of the great recession.

“We’re down to only about 10 mixing truck drivers now,” said Sam Pickenpaugh, Vulcan Concrete Mix Plant General Manager.

And the job loss doesn’t stop there. This silo used to produce cinderblocks, but it hasn’t made one in two years and these blocks have all be imported, because the company had to lay off all its people making the blocks.”

“We laid those five people off and the last I heard most of them are still unemployed,” said Pickenpaugh.

The company’s job loss mirrors what’s happening statewide. In 2007, Florida had more than 660-thousand construction workers. Today there are just 310-thousand. That’s a decline of more than 50 percent and it could soon get worse.

Federal projects like construction on the I-4 corridor connecting Tampa to Orlando, are in jeopardy of losing their funding, if Congress doesn’t act by July.

The Associated General Contractors of America is calling for quick action on a 100 billion dollar transportation bill to save current jobs and encourage growth.

“Contractors aren’t hiring someone when they know they’ll have to lay them off in five weeks,” said Ken Simonson, chief Economist with the Associated General Contractors of America.

If no action is taken by the deadline, the impact would be immediate. Both chambers have passed a version of the transportation bill, but in order to send the legislation to the president lawmakers must negotiate a final version. There are disputes about how much to spend and how long the funding should last.