ATSSA, as part of the Transportation Construction Coalition (TCC), is joining a radio campaign to urge people across the country to reach out to members of Congress to urge them to pass the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act (IIJA).

The campaign starts today and runs in 13 states in the districts of members of the House of Representatives who are uncommitted on their vote.

The Senate passed the $1.2 trillion IIJA on Aug. 10 by a vote of 69-30. The House had been expected to vote on the bill by Sept. 30 but has not taken action.  

ATSSA President & CEO Stacy Tetschner released a statement this morning regarding the failure of the House of Representatives to pass the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).

“The inability of the House of Representatives to pass the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) is deeply disappointing,” he said. “While the passage of a short-term extension of the current highway authorization will allow for critical work to continue such as the lifesaving projects carried out by ATSSA members, the lack of passage of a long-term and robust infrastructure package should be considered a failure.

The House had been expected to vote for the IIJA on Thursday. The Senate had passed it in August. Instead, the House still hasn’t voted and it allowed the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act to expire Thursday night.

Both chambers of Congress have now approved a 30-day extension of the surface transportation funding, which ensures the Highway Trust Fund can remain solvent and prevents any disruption to current projects.

With the House unable to pass the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), Congress extended the current authorization, the FAST Act, by 30 days, ensuring that the Highway Trust Fund could remain solvent and to prevent any disruption to current projects. The House passed this extension Friday nightby a vote of 365-51. The Senate followed suit on Saturday under unanimous consent.

Although Thursday was the set to be the day in which the House voted on the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), ultimately recess for the night was called shortly after 10:30pm on Capitol Hill and the bill did not receive a vote. The failure to pass the IIJA, or a short-term extension, would only have a minimal repercussions over the weekend and shouldn't affect any current work or business.

Where we currently stand...

ATSSA President & CEO Stacy Tetschner posted an open letter to the House of Representatives today urging them to vote yes on the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).

Tetschner noted that the nation’s infrastructure is “in dire need of significant rebuilding” and that now is “not the time to delay passing the most comprehensive and historic investment in our infrastructure and safety since the 1950s.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Sunday that the House would vote on the IIJA on Thursday but debates were continuing today.

Thursday is poised to be a pivotal day for the roadway safety infrastructure industry with the House of Representatives expected to vote on the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and with the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act set to expire at midnight.

Given the significance to its members, ATSSA’s Government Relations Team evaluated key concerns being raised about the IIJA’s provisions.

ATSSA’s team analyzed the IIJA ahead of the Senate's bipartisan passage of the IIJA and provided a detailed breakdown of key aspects.

Today, ATSSA provides a fact-versus-fiction analysis of issues commonly raised about the IIJA.

The House of Representatives is expected to vote Thursday on the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).

Originally, a vote had been expected as early as today. However, on Sunday evening, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that the House would begin debate on IIJA today and then vote on Thursday.

The current surface transportation authorization is set to expire on Thursday, meaning the House must pass the infrastructure package or a short-term extension of the Fixing America’s Surface Transporation (FAST) Act, or face the Highway Trust Fund going insolvent.

ATSSA President & CEO Stacy Tetschner sent a letter this afternoon to the directors of every state department of transportation (DOT) to update them on the ongoing challenges facing members of the roadway safety infrastructure industry due to a shortfall in material supplies.

The latest resource severely cut was oxygen, which is needed to make glass beads that are used in pavement marking applications.

“Our members’ supply of oxygen has been cut by 70% in some areas and 100% in others because of the significant escalation of hospitalizations due to the spread of COVID-19 variants and the national trend of oxygen producers realigning the supply of oxygen from industrial customers to critical medical needs to combat the national pandemic,” Tetschner said in today’s letter.

A new report from the National League of Cities (NLC) quantifies what ATSSA members know all too well: It’s tough to fill industry positions.

“Hard to Fill Infrastructure Jobs: A Challenge to Building Our Future” looked at the time to hire people for infrastructure jobs compared to other jobs and the share of infrastructure jobs taking longer to fill than in other industries.

NLC found the median time to fill an infrastructure job was 23.3 days compared to 19.5 days for other industries. It also found that 30% of the jobs were hard to fill for infrastructure versus 24% in non-infrastructure fields.

“As this report so clearly shows, infrastructure jobs are harder to fill than jobs in other industries, across all regions and all city sizes,” NLC CEO & Executive Director Clarence E. Anthony states in the report. “As municipalities prepare to put infrastructure dollars to work, we must ensure that our worker supply meets business demand.”

ATSSA was among 110 groups today sending a letter to all members of the House of Representatives, encouraging them to vote for the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which passed the Senate in bipartisan action.

The IIJA “represents a historic opportunity to provide substantial economic and quality of life enhancements to communities across the country and to build for the future,” the letter states. “The investments made in the package would facilitate long overdue repairs and improvements to our roads, bridges, rail, and public transportation, and other critical infrastructure, such as airports, ports, broadband, energy, and water systems.”

The infrastructure bill includes a 5-year reauthorization of federal highway, public transportation and passenger rail programs, which the groups note would “ensure states and localities have much-needed funding and policy certainty to proceed with planned projects.”

Those projects are currently operating under a funding extension set to expire Sept. 30.