Washington, D.C. — The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) today applauded the American public, who voted in support of investing in the future of the country as they cast ballots for the new President and Congress. Voters in eight states expressed strong support for infrastructure investment by approving more than $12 billion for public works projects. Most of these ballot initiatives addressed transportation and water funding; however many states approved initiatives for improving building infrastructure, including libraries, hospitals and schools.
?The public?s willingness to approve significant investment in infrastructure in difficult economic times is a testament to voters? awareness of our national infrastructure needs, demonstrated by their willingness to tax themselves and borrow to fund it,? said Stephen E. Sandherr, AGC chief executive officer. ?AGC has urged Congress to make these investments. We are hopeful that Congress will now recognize the public appetite for infrastructure investment, which will assist in addressing long-standing needs, producing jobs and stimulating economic activity that will help put our nation back on track.
Some of the noteworthy ballot initiatives that won approval yesterday include:
Alaska - $315 million in bonds for state transportation projects
Arkansas - $300 million in bonds for the financing and refinancing of the development of water, waste disposal, water pollution control, abatement and prevention, drainage, irrigation, flood control, and wetlands and aquatic resources projects.
California - $9.95 billion in bonds for planning and construction of a high-speed train between Los Angeles and San Francisco. $980 million in bonds for the construction, expansion, remodeling, renovation, furnishing, equipping, financing, or refinancing of children's hospitals in the state. Additionally, San Diego County voters approved 3.2 billion in funding for new schools and improvements to existing schools.
Maine (undecided at press time) - $3.4 million in bonds for drinking water programs and construction of wastewater treatment facilities, and to leverage $17 million in other funds.
Missouri - a change in financing of storm water control project and remove the cap on available funding.
New Mexico - $11 million to make capital expenditures for libraries, $57 million for health facility improvements, $140 million for higher educational and special schools capital improvements and $14 million for senior citizen facility improvements and construction.
Pennsylvania - $400 million for construction and improvement of drinking water and storm water projects, nutrient credits and wastewater treatment facilities.
Rhode Island - bonds to match Department of Transportation federal funds for highways, roads and bridges and commuter rail, and to purchase or rehabilitate buses.
In addition to the state ballot initiatives, billions of dollars in infrastructure projects were approved through county and municipal initiatives that will benefit the country. Many of the local initiatives were for local school districts and community colleges while some local municipalities approved transportation funding.
The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) is the largest and oldest national construction trade association in the United States. AGC represents more than 33,000 firms, including 7,500 of America's leading general contractors, and over 12,500 specialty–contracting firms. More than 13,000 service providers and suppliers are associated with AGC through a nationwide network of chapters. Visit the AGC Web site at www.agc.org.
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