Congress Misses Opportunity to Fix Infrastructure, While States Do Their Part
December 01, 2017
The Senate and House tax bills proved to be missed opportunities for fixing the federal Highway Trust Fund, but states are doing their part and investing in infrastructure. The federal Highway Trust Fund, an account used to pay for the federal share of roads, bridges, and transit, has not been raised in 24 years.......
Congressman Larson Introduces the “America Wins Act”
November 14, 2017
Earlier this month, Congressman John Larson (D-CT) introduced H.R.4209, the America Wins Act – a bill which would invest $1 trillion, through taxing harmful pollution, in our infrastructure over a decade. Under this legislation, $400 billion will be invested in existing federal highway programs and eliminate the $138 billion Highway Trust Fund (HTF) shortfall; $100......
Infrastructure Wins on Election Night 2017
November 08, 2017
On November 7, voters across the country approved infrastructure investment ballot measures. In Maine, a resounding 72% of residents across the state voted yes on Question 3, allowing the issuance of $105 million in bonds for transportation projects around the state. $80 million will be provided to state highways and bridges, $20 million for multimodal......
Bipartisan Legislation Introduced in the House and Senate to Enhance Infrastructure Investment
October 24, 2017
The Move America Act, bipartisan legislation has been introduced in the House and Senate introduced (H.R. 3912 and S. 1229) to enhance America’s infrastructure by strengthening public-private partnerships. ASCE supports the legislation and has been working to advance it in both the House and Senate. The House bill was introduced this October by Congresswoman Jackie......
Outdated Gas Tax Rate Still Propping Up America’s Transportation Infrastructure
October 23, 2017
This month marks the 24th anniversary of the federal gas tax’s outdated 18.4-cent rate enacted on October 1st, 1993. First established in 1932, the gas tax goes toward the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) – the federal fund that pays for bridges, roads, and transit. The federal gas tax rate has been raised numerous times since......
Texas Report Card Gives Infrastructure a “C-“
September 20, 2017
Texas’ infrastructure has received a lot of attention in the past few weeks following Hurricane Harvey. Today, weeks the cities of Port Aransas and Rockport were destroyed and Houston and South Texas flooded, the Texas section of the ASCE released the Report Card for Texas’ Infrastructure, and the report finds there is work to be......
President Trump Release Executive Order on Infrastructure
August 16, 2017
On Tuesday, President Trump signed an executive order (EO) on infrastructure permitting, titled Presidential Executive Order on Establishing Discipline and Accountability in the Environmental Review and Permitting Process for Infrastructure. The EO aims to reduce permitting time, which in the past took an average of seven years, and will now be condensed into an average......
Senate Appropriations Committee Approves Transportation Spending Bill
July 28, 2017
The Senate Committee on Appropriations passed a bill yesterday to fund the Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development for fiscal year 2018 (which according to the federal calendar begins October 1). The bill funds the Department of Transportation (DOT) at $79.6 billion for FY18 (a $1.5 billion increase from FY17). That total is $1.1......
Poll Says It All—Most Americans Willing to Pay More at the Pump
July 25, 2017
From structurally deficient bridges to dilapidated roads, there’s no question our infrastructure suffers from a lack of funding. Fortunately, most Americans are now willing to pay to reverse this trend. According to a recent Bloomberg national poll, 55 percent of Americans say they would pay a higher gas tax to repair their infrastructure. Even more......
Federal Infrastructure & Science Programs Receive House Appropriations
July 21, 2017
The House Appropriations Committee had a busy week, passing the remaining five (out of 12) appropriations bills this week, part of the process Congress goes through to create the federal budget. Here are the highlights of the bills affecting infrastructure and engineering. Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies National Science Foundation is funded at $7.3......