The Senate has approved a short-term extension of transportation programs, sending to President Biden stopgap legislation after the House again delayed a vote on a more than $1 trillion infrastructure bill.
Read MoreTag: Legislation
Important Infrastructure Update
Sept. 29, 2021 – Despite what you might be reading in the national news media, the infrastructure bill winding its way through Congress is not dead in the water and being held hostage by both far-left and far-right detractors on either side of the aisle. Information filtering out of Washington this morning indicates that the bill will come to the floor…
Read MoreThe Battle Goes On
Sept. 28, 2021 – The National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association’s legislative team, in a morning panel discussion at its Legislative & Policy Forum, emphasized that the $1.2 trillion infrastructure package before Congress is more than 80% devoted to traditional infrastructure, contrary to the talking points of many Republican legislators. In an ironic twist, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) spoke to the group right…
Read MoreNSSGA Takes on D.C.
Sept. 27, 2021 – The National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association (NSSGA) kicked off its Legislative and Policy Forum in Washington, D.C., with a Keynote Address from Anna Palmer, a New York Times best-selling author who has been writing about congressional leadership, the lobbying industry, presidential campaigns, and the politics of governing for more than 15 years. She is the co-founder and CEO of…
Read MoreInfrastructure Infighting
Sept. 24, 2021 – According to ABC News, Democratic House and Senate leaders announced they and the White House have reached agreement on a “framework” that will pay for most, if not all, of the massive $3.5 trillion human infrastructure bill – a move meant to mitigate concerns from moderate and centrist Democrats opposed to the hefty price tag. But the…
Read MoreInfrastructure Bill Aligns With Key AASHTO Principles
An 81-page analysis of the $1.2 trillion “Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act” (IIJA) passed by the Senate on August 10 and now winding its way through the House of Representatives finds it aligns with key principles espoused by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO).
Read MoreThat’s A Lot of Money Per Year
Aug. 10, 2021 – When the FAST Act was signed into law in 2015 by President Obama, it averaged $45 billion per year in spending on roads and bridges. Contrast that to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act just passed by the Senate. The bill, which now goes to the House, averages just over $70 billion per year, according to National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association Vice…
Read MoreHow Bipartisan Was It?
August 10, 2021 – The passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act by the U.S. Senate was certainly a bipartisan effort, but just how bipartisan was it? All democrats, but only 19 republicans, voted to make the bill a reality. Here are the 19 GOP senators who voted to put roads and bridges over political posturing to support the aggregates and…
Read MoreSenate Passes $1 Trillion Infrastructure Bill
The Senate has passed a roughly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure deal, a significant win for the aggregates and construction industries, according to The Hill.
Read MoreA Rescue for the Highway Trust Fund
August 3, 2021 – The Highway Trust Fund was just thrown a lifeline. A $118 billion bailout of the Highway Trust Fund from the Treasury’s general fund was slipped into the ever-evolving infrastructure bill text at the last minute. I could have predicted there would be something in the bill at some point, given lawmakers’ inability to agree on user-fee…
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