On February 26, Gary Johnson, Vice President of Granite Construction Inc. testified before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works at a hearing entitled Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Implementation and Case Studies. In his testimony he highlighted that the funding provided by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) was sorely needed and long-awaited, but delivering the surface transportation network our nation deserves is not just a five-year endeavor.
Testifying on behalf of the Transportation Construction Coalition (TCC), which AGC of America co-chairs, Johnson highlighted three areas for potential policy improvements in the next multi-year surface transportation reauthorization bill:
- Preserve and grow current highway and public transportation investment levels with user fee revenues that reflect all vehicles on the road.
- Ensure Buy America provisions do not impede project delivery by preserving the exemption for aggregates and paving materials, and by requiring federal agencies to create a public database of commercially available, compliant materials.
- Protect the men and women who build our roads by incentivizing states to implement stricter work zone safety measures such as automated speed enforcement.
Johnson noted that to-date, states have committed $183 billion highway and bridge formula funds from the IIJA, which now support over 91,000 new projects – at least one in nearly every U.S. county.
“Projects across the U.S. are driving an increase in heavy equipment sales, asphalt and concrete production and record employment levels for highway and bridge construction. Outcomes like these are proof the law is working as intended,” Johnson said.
For more information, please contact Deniz Mustafa.