Nearly 370 mayors from all 50 states and the District of Columbia called on Congress to take immediate action on the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework proposed by a bipartisan group of senators and President Joe Biden on June 24.
In a July 13 letter to leaders of both parties in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate, the group asked Congress to move swiftly to jumpstart the nation’s economy.
“This framework would be the largest long-term investment in our nation’s infrastructure and competitiveness in nearly a century – $1.2 trillion over eight years – to help make our economy more sustainable, resilient, and just,” the letter said. “ The Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework is crucial to making meaningful progress on one of the most pressing and unifying challenges facing our country – the need for comprehensive investment in public transportation; roads; bridges; passenger and freight rail; drinking water and wastewater; clean energy and electrification; legacy pollution cleanup; cyber-attack and extreme weather-resiliency; and universal broadband access. Thus, we believe that this framework deserves bipartisan support in the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives.”
The mayors also asked that two key elements of the Framework be adhered to – that funding previously signed into law to help cities could not be ‘clawed back’ to pay for new infrastructure investments, and that federal leaders should empower local leaders to invest in their communities through proven funding programs like the Community Development Block Grants and Surface Transportation Block Grants.