The chief executive officer of the Associated General Contractors of America, Stephen E. Sandherr, issued the following statement in reaction to the passage in the U.S. House of Representatives of the Bipartisan Infrastructure measure:
The U.S. House of Representatives again failed to pass the AGC-supported $1.2T bipartisan (physical) infrastructure bill—formally called the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (click HERE for a construction industry overview and HERE for a “Myth vs. Fact” analysis of the bill)—as the federal-aid highway and transit construction programs were set to expire on Oct. 31. As a result, Congress passed an AGC-backed extension of the highway and transit programs until December 3.
Would Eliminate Ambiguity Regarding Use for Transportation Projects
On October 20, the Federal Highway Administration released fiscal year end estimates on the Highway Trust Fund balance. Here are the fast facts:
On October 21, the AGC co-chaired Transportation Construction Coalition (TCC) began a 13-state ad campaign targeting six House Democrats and nine House Republicans to press for passage of the $1.2 trillion bipartisan (physical) infrastructure bill, formally entitled the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The bill includes a five-year surface transportation reauthorization with record levels of investment for transportation construction, including more than $350 billion for roads and bridges. For more information on this ad campaign, click HERE.
After a week of high tensions and continued disagreement on a path forward for passing the bill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi cancelled a vote on the Senate-passed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that, among other things, would reauthorize federal-aid surface transportation programs for 5 years. The Congressional Progressive Caucus and House Republicans both declined to support the bill due to political disagreements over its connection to the separate, partisan reconciliation bill, the Build Back Better Plan. As such, surface transportation programs, including the highway, transit, and rail construction programs, lapsed for a little over a day on October 1st before House and Senate lawmakers passed a one-month extension of current law the morning of Saturday, October 2. On October 1, 3,700 federal Department of Transportation workers were furloughed, creating uncertainty in state transportation agencies across the country. On Sept. 30, AGC joined 33 other industry partners in again urging the House to pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill. AGC is very disappointed that this historic investment in our nation’s infrastructure has yet again been delayed and will continue calling on the House to pass the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act as soon as possible.
Apply by Wednesday, October 20, 2021!
House Republican Leadership & Progressive Democrats Unite Against Bill
The chief executive officer of the Associated General Contractors of America, Stephen E. Sandherr, issued the following statement in reaction to the announcement today that the House Republican leadership will encourage its party members to vote against the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill:
Action is needed before the current one-year extension of the FAST Act surface transportation law expires September 30. The bipartisan infrastructure bill passed by the Senate over a month ago includes a record-breaking five-year surface transportation reauthorization and additional investments to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure. The House of Representatives has yet to vote on the bill, as Speaker Pelosi holds it for leverage to pass upwards of a $3.5 trillion human infrastructure bill. Meanwhile, thousands of construction jobs and projects are on the line. Not only will further delay impede a wide variety of new projects from hitting the street to bid, but funding for ongoing construction projects is also in jeopardy. If the bipartisan infrastructure bill does not pass before September 30, the federal-aid highway and transit construction programs will expire, causing a slowdown and eventual end to federal payments to states for transportation construction projects already underway.