House Fails to Pass Bipartisan Bill Reauthorizing Programs

After a week of high tensions and continued disagreement on a path forward for passing the bill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi cancelled a vote on the Senate-passed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that, among other things, would reauthorize federal-aid surface transportation programs for 5 years. The Congressional Progressive Caucus and House Republicans both declined to support the bill due to political disagreements over its connection to the separate, partisan reconciliation bill, the Build Back Better Plan. As such, surface transportation programs, including the highway, transit, and rail construction programs, lapsed for a little over a day on October 1st before House and Senate lawmakers passed a one-month extension of current law the morning of Saturday, October 2. On October 1, 3,700 federal Department of Transportation workers were furloughed, creating uncertainty in state transportation agencies across the country. On Sept. 30, AGC joined 33 other industry partners in again urging the House to pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill. AGC is very disappointed that this historic investment in our nation’s infrastructure has yet again been delayed and will continue calling on the House to pass the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act as soon as possible.

House Republican Leadership & Progressive Democrats Unite Against Bill

The chief executive officer of the Associated General Contractors of America, Stephen E. Sandherr, issued the following statement in reaction to the announcement today that the House Republican leadership will encourage its party members to vote against the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill:

On Sept. 13, House Democrats released legislative text detailing significant tax increases to pay for their upwards of $3.5 trillion human infrastructure bill. Those tax increases include but are not limited to: (1) increasing the top rate to 26.5% from 21% for corporations with incomes of $5 million; (2) creating a new 3% surtax on individuals/pass-through businesses with modified adjusted gross income exceeding $5 million; (3) increasing the top tax rate for pass-through businesses to 46.4 percent (39.6 percent top individual tax bracket + 3.8 percent net investment income tax (NIIT) + 3 percent surtax); (4) increasing the top capital gains rate to 31.8 percent (25 percent statutory rate + 3.8 percent NIIT + 3 percent surtax); and (5) capping the maximum Section 199A qualified business income deduction for high income individuals. The proposal also includes registered apprenticeship requirements, among other things, for entities to receive certain construction development tax incentives largely used in private construction markets. AGC opposes these proposals and will fight their enactment, as they would hinder economic recovery and growth.

Rep. Anthony Brown (D-Md.) Joins AGC for Tour

On August 24, the Federal Aviation Administration announced the award of $766 million in airport infrastructure grants to 279 airports as part of the Airport Improvement Program (AIP). The AIP grant program awards billions of dollars each year for the planning and development of public-use airports across the country. As part of the AGC-supported fiscal year 2021 funding bill, the program received $3.75 billion in federal funding, $400M more than is authorized by the FAA Reauthorization Act. AGC applauds this funding announcement and will continue to support investment in our nation’s airport infrastructure. Click “learn more” to view the announcement and look at an interactive map of the projects awarded.