ARTBA Convenes Workshop on Funding Success Stories
July 18, 2017
States have been stepping up to better fund transportation. On July 12, the American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) Transportation Investment Advocacy Center held its fourth Annual National Workshop for State & Local Transportation Advocates, which explored how states are getting it done. The day-long meeting featured transportation investment champions from around the country.......
Sens. Hoeven and Wyden Reintroduce Move America Act
June 05, 2017
Sens. John Hoeven (R-ND) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) recently re-introduced their Move America Act to expand the availability of tax-exempt bonds and create a new tax credit, bringing more private capital into infrastructure and giving states more flexibility to pursue infrastructure projects. The legislation creates Move America Bonds, expanding private activity bonds, which encourage private......
Legislation to Create National Infrastructure Bank Reintroduced
June 02, 2017
Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA) and Roy Blunt (R-MO), along with seven other bipartisan cosponsors, recently introduced S. 1168 – BRIDGE Act to establish a national infrastructure bank to give state and local governments another tool in the toolbox for financing infrastructure projects. The bank would help state and local governments better leverage private funds to......
A Chance to Fix the Highway Trust Fund
May 01, 2017
President Donald Trump gave the idea of raising the federal gas tax a boost today, saying in an interview with Bloomberg News that raising the tax to fund infrastructure is “something that I would certainly consider.” So far this Congress, Rep. Earl Blumenauer (OR-3) has introduced legislation to raise the federal gas tax, while fellow......
White House Sends Congress Budget Request for the Rest of FY17
March 30, 2017
Following on the heels of the FY18 “skinny budget” it released two weeks ago, last Friday the White House sent the House and Senate appropriations committees its budget request for the remaining five months of FY17. As detailed in a previous post, the Trump Administration’s FY18 budget request would dramatically increase defense spending and make......
Brookings Tackles “Water Problem” at Summit
March 28, 2017
On March 28, the Brookings Institution convened a half-day summit, titled “Tackling the ‘Water Problem’: Challenges facing U.S. regulation, sustainability, and global geopolitics.” Former U.S. Secretary of Interior under President Clinton, Bruce Babbitt, provided a keynote address and two panels were convened to discuss domestic water infrastructure and regulations, as well as global water security,......
How the White House Budget Would Affect Infrastructure and Engineering
March 23, 2017
The White House released its budget blueprint for FY 2018 last week, signaling its priorities to Congress as it ramps up the annual appropriations process. The White House’s budget would increase defense spending by $54 billion and offset that increase with broad cuts elsewhere in discretionary spending. It will be up to House and Senate......
Rep. DeFazio Introduces Legislation to Invest $500 Billion in Roads, Bridges & Transit
March 22, 2017
Today Rep. Peter DeFazio (OR-4), the top Democrat on the House’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, introduced legislation to raise approximately $500 billion to repair America’s deteriorating roads, bridges, and transit systems. The bill, H.R. 1664 – Investing in America: A Penny for Progress Act, finances the additional investment by authorizing the Treasury Department to issue......
Senate EPW Committee Examines How to Modernize America’s Infrastructure
February 09, 2017
On Wednesday the Senate’s Environment and Public Works committee held its first oversight hearing of the 115th Congress (video available here) and new Chairman John Barrasso (R-WY) started things off by making it clear where he stands on the proposal offered by President Trump’s campaign to use private investment to improve our nation’s infrastructure: “Funding......
December 01, 2015
Moments ago, the U.S. House and Senate Surface Transportation Authorization Conference Committee produced a final conference report that provides five years of federal highway and transit funding at increased levels. This was the result that ASCE had previously publicly called for. The final bill provides nearly $233 billion for highway programs, $49 billion for transit......