U.S. Department of Transportation Released Grant Awards
June 13, 2018
Last week, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) attended an invitation only event with U.S. Department of Transportation (US DOT) Secretary Elaine Chao announcing the Department’s release of nearly $1.5 billion in grants to fund the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America or “INFRA” program for freight, highway, and bridge improvements created by the Fixing America’s......
New Bill Would Reinstate Advance Refunding Bonds for Infrastructure
April 16, 2018
Congressman Randy Hultgren (R-IL) and Congressman C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD) introduced H.R. 5003, a bill to reinstate advance refunding bonds, which were replead in H.R. 1, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. During the tax bill debate the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) opposed provisions that eliminated financing tools, including advance refunding bonds and......
Senate Democrats Release New Infrastructure Plan
March 07, 2018
This week, the Senate Democratic Caucus unveiled their own new jobs and infrastructure plan in response to President Trump’s Infrastructure Principles released in early February. Under the Senate Democrats jobs and infrastructure plan, there would be a $1 trillion federal investment to modernize our deteriorating infrastructure. ASCE President Kristina Swallow released a statement, highlighting that......
Public-Private Partnerships, A Tool in the Toolbox
January 23, 2018
Partnerships between public agencies – federal, state, and local – and private companies are an increasingly popular infrastructure financing policy tool. As public budgets continue to be squeezed; public-private partnerships (P3s) allow planners and policymakers more breathing room to invest. P3s can be an effective financing mechanism through tools such as municipal and private activity......
The Atlantic: Summit on Infrastructure + Transportation
December 08, 2017
This week The Atlantic’s Summit on Infrastructure and Transportation explored the state of America’s infrastructure and where it’s heading in the future. The summit included a series of panels with guests discussing technology and the future of infrastructure, natural disasters and resiliency, and infrastructure projects taking place across the nation. The panel, “Infrastructure in Critical Condition,” was a......
Tax Legislation Hurts Infrastructure, Engineers
November 28, 2017
The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) is concerned that Congress has missed a once-in-a-generation opportunity to address the nation’s infrastructure investment gap. Earlier this month, Congress began the process of crafting tax-cut legislation. The House Ways and Means Committee drafted H.R. 1, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which passed out of committee and......
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......
10 Years After the I-35 Bridge Collapse: What’s Changed With the Nation’s Bridges?
August 01, 2017
It’s been 10 years since a bridge carrying Interstate 35 West over the Mississippi River in downtown Minneapolis collapsed, killing 13 people and injuring 145 more. The eight-lane bridge was Minnesota’s third busiest, carrying 140,000 people a day. Its failure opened many people’s eyes to the danger of taking our infrastructure for granted and led......
Advocating on the Hill for Funding of Critical Dam Programs
July 31, 2017
In an effort to raise the Dams grade, which received a “D” in the 2017 Infrastructure Report Card, ASCE and the Association of State Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO) spent two days on Capitol Hill last week advocating for funding the High Hazard Potential Dam Rehabilitation Program and the National Dam Safety Program (NDSP) – programs......
FAA Reauthorization Bills Released
June 23, 2017
With just over three months to go before the Federal Aviation Administration’s authorization expires, and a “D” grade for aviation in the 2017 Infrastructure Report Card, the House and Senate committees released their bills yesterday to reauthorize the agency. The House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee’s bill, H.R. 2997, will be the more controversial of the......
America Scores a D+
@YourCongressPerson
The 2017 Infrastructure Report Card gives our nation a D+ across 16 infrastructure categories #InfrastructureMatters
Fix the Trust Fund
@YourCongressPerson
#FixTheTrustFund to put us on a road to better transportation! #InfrastructureMatters