The American Public Works Association (APWA) urged the U.S. House of Representatives to adopt the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) on Tuesday.
The 30,000 member organization represents the country’s employees who plan, design, build, maintain, operate and oversee the nation’s infrastructure networks. Federal infrastructure spending between 2003 and 2017 has decreased more rapidly than state and local spending, the group said their research showed.
“IIJA is a great first step,” APWA President Stan Brown said. “Estimates are the U.S. infrastructure funding gap will triple by 2040 if we do nothing today. The bipartisan legislation promises to deliver billions to states now. And states need the money now.”
The American Society of Civil Engineers said the country’s funding gap increases at a rate of $259 billion per year.
Brown said the IIJA aligned with APWA’s public policy priorities for surface transportation reauthorization, water resiliency, and emergency management by authorizing surface transportation programs for five years, streamlining permitting processes, strengthening infrastructure resiliency and investing in water and wastewater systems while protecting them from dangerous emerging contaminants.
The group said passage of the legislation is urgently needed.
“When Congress needed to act to help U.S. citizens during the pandemic, they did so with speed and accuracy,” APWA CEO Scott Grayson said. “We need the same urgency now as our infrastructure networks are failing and our quality of life is increasingly threatened by crumbling roads, increasingly dangerous natural disasters and bridges that can no longer carry loads they were designed to carry decades ago.”