The Infrastructure Working Group (IWG), a coalition of trade and labor organizations, recently sent a letter to Senate leaders urging bipartisan action to solve long-standing infrastructure deficits.
A robust, long-term, on-time surface transportation bill is necessary to begin to mitigate the nation’s infrastructure deficit and to meet infrastructure needs, IWG said. The group urged the Senate to keep up momentum started by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and to pass surface transportation reauthorization before the Sept. 30, 2020, deadline.
IWG also called for a federal infrastructure package that accomplishes six goals: Fixes chronic challenges and reoccurring shortages in the Highway Trust Fund and other federal infrastructure accounts; facilitates opportunities for private investment in U.S. infrastructure; significantly increases direct federal investments in infrastructure; creates efficiencies while continuing to provide environmental protections; complements and strengthens existing tools that deliver infrastructure investments at the federal, state and local levels; and encourages active participation among all levels of government and between public and private sectors.
The letter was sent to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY).
IWG is led by the National Association of Manufacturers and the Associated General Contractors. It was created to build support for infrastructure investments and to unify trade associations.