House to Vote on WRRDA Next Week

TAKE ACTION: Urge Your Congressman to Support WRRDA The House of Representatives is slated to vote on the Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA), H.R. 3080, next week. Please take action and urge your U.S. Representative to vote “yes” on H.R. 3080. Prior to the government shutdown, the WRRDA bill passed the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on a unanimous, bipartisan voice vote. The WRRDA bill authorizes approximately $10 billion for new construction projects—navigation, flood control, locks, dams, and environment restoration--through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) Civil Works program.  To view the potential new projects, see pages 155 through 160 of the bill. Aside from authorizing new projects, the bill includes a host of other AGC contractor priorities, including project delivery and environmental streamlining, improving the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund and Inland Waterways Trust Fund, a public-private partnership pilot program that leverages, but does not replace, government funding for water resources projects. You can also find a detailed, side-by-side analysis of the House and Senate bills by clicking here. As with Senate passage of its WRRDA bill S. 601 in May, AGC has actively pressed for its WRRDA priorities in the House. AGC has met with over 60 House offices, coordinated the signatures of 56 AGC chapters on a business community WRRDA support letter in anticipation of House action, sent letters of support through two AGC-co-chaired multi-industry coalitions—the Transportation Construction Coalition and the Water Resources Coalition—as well as AGC's own letter of support. AGC continues to advocate and coordinate concerted support for passage of a pro-reform and pro-water resources infrastructure investment WRRDA bill. If the House passes the bill, a conference committee comprised of members from both chambers will commence to reconcile the differences between the House and Senate WRRDA bills before final passage. AGC will continue to press for enactment of a WRRDA bill that includes the construction industry’s priorities. Again, please take action and urge your U.S. Representative to support H.R. 3080. For more information, please contact Jimmy Christianson at 703-837-5325 or christiansonj@agc.org.