Courthouse Infrastructure

Enhance and improve our federal courthouses. AGC supports a consistent and cost-effective new construction program for U.S. courthouses. A federal courthouse is a unique building by any standard. It is a symbol of the strength and vigor of the United States government and must be designed and built with the flexibility to meet the courts’ requirements for today and many years into the future. Its complex program includes a myriad of functions and specialized requirements. The planning, design and construction of a new federal courthouse integrates all three branches of the U.S. government.

Critical Freight Gateways

The federal role in the nation’s transportation system should be to ensure the efficient movement of freight to enable and promote interstate commerce.  Capacity at our nation’s freight gateways – ports, rivers, airports, rail facilities, and border crossings – is struggling to meet the needs of our growing economy. Seamless integration of these systems to facilitate the movement of freight among modes will help ensure our economic prosperity. Improving freight systems has national benefits.

Ethanol & Highway Trust Fund Revenues

Ensure that any increase in the use of ethanol does not reduce highway trust fund revenues. Tax incentives and other efforts to promote the use of ethanol should be financed out of general fund revenue rather than the Highway Trust Fund. Vehicles that use ethanol-based fuels contribute to the same wear and tear on the highway system as vehicles that use regular gasoline and should pay their fair share of their use of the system.

Freight Rail Infrastructure

Identify appropriate user fees to support federal funding for rail infrastructure Freight movement, particularly as it impacts international trade and economic strength, must be a top federal transportation priority. To address staggering and growing freight movement needs, AGC supports a federal funding source to supplement private investment in freight rail infrastructure. AGC opposes use of Highway Trust Fund revenue in support of rail infrastructure.

Highway Trust Fund

Ensure the solvency of the Highway Trust Fund to fully fund SAFETEA-LU and future revenue needs. AGC supports the firewall mechanism and funding guarantees that ensure that highway user fees are invested as intended in transportation infrastructure.  Prior to 1998 the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) was allowed to accumulate a large balance which was used to off-set deficit spending on other parts of the Federal budget. The enactment of TEA-21 in 1998 established firewalls to prevent HTF revenue from being spent on other programs, and funding guarantees were put in place to prevent the build-up of a huge balance. These firewalls were continued in SAFETEA-LU.

Infrastructure Job Creation

Create jobs through increased infrastructure funding. Investment in infrastructure both directly and indirectly creates jobs. Construction is a major source of good-paying jobs, providing employment to 7.5 million employees making on average over $20 per hour, 20 percent higher than the average private industry wages. The U.S. Department of Transportation, for example, estimates that for every $1 billion invested in transportation, 47,500 jobs are created.

Intermodal Connector Infrastructure

Improve the efficiency of transportation by enhancing funding for intermodal connectors. Port, truck, and railroad intermodal connections should be eligible for funding from the Highway Trust Fund, but only if additional revenue sources directly related to these projects are enacted. Fees such as container fees, point of entry fees, intermodal transfer fees, and other similar user fees should be used as revenue sources.

Military, Border & Prison Facility Infrastructure

Expand federal investment in military housing, border facilities, and federal prisons. The federal government must invest in its own physical infrastructure to care for our military personnel, improve employee retention and overall performance. The federal government has not invested in its physical infrastructure. Federal office buildings are not designed for today’s high-tech work environment. The General Accountability Office (GAO) reported that 903 federal buildings are in need of repairs and alterations at an estimated cost of approximately $4 billion. GAO also reported that 44 of the 903 buildings need urgent attention because they have an average age of 49 years, and need over $20 million per building in repairs and alterations.

New Funding Mechanisms

Expand traditional revenue sources and look for new funding mechanisms to meet transportation needs. The motor fuels tax alone is insufficient to meet existing and growing transportation infrastructure needs. The motor fuels tax has not been increased since 1993 and has lost over one-third of its purchasing power. Also, the highway account in the Highway Trust Fund is projected to have a negative balance as early as 2009.

Privatization & Innovative Financing

Promote non-federal sources for investment, such as bonding, privatization, tolling, etc. Transportation investment needs are staggering and all available sources of revenue should be utilized to meet these needs. Funding the future needs of the system may require more than one financing method. While privatization and other innovative financing schemes may provide additional resources, increasing the user fee will be necessary to ensure that the Highway Trust Fund remains solvent.

Port Infrastructure

Improve access and enhance security for our nation’s ports. Improving access to and securing our nation’s ports are critical components to enhancing our nation’s economic growth and vitality and our national security. Since 9/11, Congress has provided limited investment - only 20% of the identified need - in improving and securing our ports. Increased investment must be made to ensure the success and security of our nation’s ports.

Sustainable Development Infrastructure

Support sustainable development that preserves opportunities for economic growth and quality of life. Reasonable and practical sustainable development initiatives should permit contractors to meet the nation’s growing infrastructure needs, foster economic growth in communities, and promote a greater quality of life. Many state and local governments are implementing initiatives aimed at redeveloping urban communities to promote high-density population centers, “walkable” neighborhoods, mixed-use development, green buildings, and city landscapes that reduce urban stormwater runoff. Narrowly focused land-use policies and practices will limit private sector competition and stifle innovative planning and economic growth.

Traffic Congestion Infrastructure

Reduce pollutants caused by road congestion by removing critical roadway bottlenecks. Alleviating traffic congestion through capacity improvements is necessary and may not be achieved solely though operation improvements or value-pricing schemes. Americans are spending more time stuck in traffic, wasting both fuel and hours of productivity. Whereas operational improvements, including value-pricing schemes, may have usefulness in easing certain urban congestion, their applicability is limited and their cost-effectiveness unproven.

School Infrastructure

Identify the appropriate federal role to encourage school modernization. The federal government should investigate ways to improve our nation’s schools. If federal funding is identified, it should not include federal strings that would drive up the costs, or delay the construction or repair of needed schools.