House Passes ABC-Opposed $1.5 Trillion Infrastructure Bill with Anti-competitive Mandates

On July 1, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 2, the Moving Forward Act, on a mostly party line vote of 233 to 188, with three Republicans voting for the bill and two Democrats voting against it. The House Democrats’ infrastructure plan would spend more than $1.5 trillion on surface transportation, airport, school, housing, healthcare, energy, water and broadband infrastructure, however, it also includes numerous anti-merit shop provisions opposed by ABC.

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ABC Opposes House Democrats’ $1.5 Trillion Infrastructure Bill with Anti-Merit Shop Provisions

On June 22, Chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Peter A. DeFazio (D-Ore.) was joined by six other Democratic House committee chairs in a press conference releasing the  Democratic Infrastructure Bill, H.R. 2, the Moving Forward Act.

 

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ABC Urges House to Approve Great American Outdoors Act, Which Would Create 100,000+ Construction Jobs

On June 17, The Great American Outdoors Act (S. 3422), introduced by Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), was passed in the U.S. Senate by a vote of 73-25. This bipartisan legislation would help address the $20 billion deferred maintenance backlog in the Department of the Interior, $12 billion of which is accumulated by the National Park Service, creating thousands of construction jobs in the process.

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ABC Welcomes Executive Order That Expedites Infrastructure Investments

On June 4, President Trump signed executive order 13927, which directs federal agencies to expedite the delivery of transportation infrastructure projects, an action ABC said will streamline permitting and facilitate infrastructure improvements while protecting the environment, health and safety.

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ABC Calls for Open Competition and an All-of-the-Above Workforce Development Strategy in Senate Water Infrastructure Draft Bills

On May 1, ABC sent a letter to the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works advocating for improvements to draft legislation that is being considered by the committee, the America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2020 and the Drinking Water Infrastructure Act of 2020.

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ABC Represented on Economic Recovery Groups

On April 16, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee announced the formation of the Economic Recovery Group, a joint effort between public officials and private industry that will look at rebooting the state’s economy amidst the coronavirus pandemic. ABC Greater Tennessee Chapter President Clay Crownover was appointed to the group and will serve alongside 14 other industry representatives, state legislators and agency officials to draft recommendations, according to a press release from the governor’s office.

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ABC Weighs In on House Subcommittee Hearing on Infrastructure Investment

On Feb. 26, ABC sent a letter calling on Congress to consider how its infrastructure investment agenda could impact merit shop contractors and the small business community during a hearing titled Moving America’s Infrastructure Forward. Convened by U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Small Business’ Contracting and Infrastructure Subcommittee, the hearing was timed to coordinate with the recent release of Democrats’ $760 billion infrastructure investment framework, the Moving Forward Framework.  

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ABC Weighs in on Elements of a Successful Infrastructure Package

On March 1, ABC President and CEO Mike Bellaman joined members of Congress, senior committee staff, key industry stakeholders and top administration officials for discussions on the challenges of writing and passing a package to revitalize America’s infrastructure. Read the rest of entry »

President Trump Releases Infrastructure Proposal

On Feb. 12, President Donald Trump announced the release of his administration’s infrastructure proposal. ABC President and CEO Michael D. Bellaman issued the following statement on the president’s infrastructure plan: “ABC applauds the president for sending Congress a plan to rebuild America’s infrastructure. It is now time for lawmakers to develop legislation and policy to efficiently modernize America’s infrastructure and drive economic growth and prosperity for all Americans." Read the rest of entry »

Congress Passes Funding Deal Ahead of White House 2019 Budget Request

On Feb. 9, shortly before the White House released its 2019 budget request, both chambers of Congress passed, and the president signed, a funding agreement that sets a budget for fiscal years 2018 and 2019. The deal will raise federal spending caps by $300 billion in 2018 and 2019 and suspend the debt limit until 2019. Read the rest of entry »