The U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure approved two major pieces of legislation to modernize America’s roads, bridges, highways, rail, transit, and wastewater systems.
Committee Chair Peter DeFazio (D-OR) said the two bills, the INVEST in America Act and the Water Quality Protection and Job Creation Act of 2021, represented a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” to transform investments into American infrastructure.
“Infrastructure is calling, and we are answering with bold legislation that invests in American workers and communities and lays the groundwork for the president’s visionary Americans Jobs Plan,” said Chair Peter DeFazio (D-OR). “I commend my colleagues for their hard work helping craft these two bills to deliver what Americans expect and deserve: safe roads and bridges, reliable transit options and a robust passenger rail network, wastewater systems that aren’t on the brink of failure, and a commitment to address the existential threat of climate change. In many ways, the choice couldn’t be easier—because the best part of rebuilding our infrastructure for the modern era is the incredible opportunity for our nation that comes with it. We’re talking millions of good-paying jobs that can’t be exported, real and sustained support for U.S. manufacturing, and the chance to make our nation a world leader once again. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity that we can’t afford to miss.”
Both pieces of legislation now advance to the House floor.
The Water Quality Protection and Job Creation Act would invest $50 billion into wastewater infrastructure across the country and includes $40 billion for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund – a program not reauthorized by Congress since 1987.
The INVEST in America Act would invest $547 billion in surface transportation, including roads, bridges, transit, and rail.
INVEST in America has the support of more than 60 industrial, labor, and environmental groups, as well as some local governments.
“This forward-thinking investment will help our communities meet growing mobility demands, create family-wage jobs, expand U.S. manufacturing and supply chains, and grow the economy,” the American Public Transportation Association President and CEO Paul Skoutelas. “This legislation will put us on the path to increase access to opportunities for all Americans and build more equitable communities while also addressing the environmental and sustainability challenges facing our communities, nation, and the world. In addition to these critical investments, the INVEST in America Act includes important policies from streamlining the Capital Investment Grant program to investing in new technologies like zero emission buses that will create the transportation systems of the future. The time is now to make this transformational investment in our national infrastructure that will provide staying power to drive our economy for years to come.”
Other groups supporting the legislation include the American Society for Civil Engineers; the National Safety Council; the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO; the International Brotherhood of Teamsters; Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC); Transportation for America; and the American Trucking Association.