Congress Must Pass Comprehensive Infrastructure Legislation

In ASCE’s 2021 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, our infrastructure earned a cumulative “C-” grade. According to the latest Report Card, 11 of the 17 infrastructure categories received scores in the “D” range, meaning systems are poor and at risk. Decades of chronic underinvestment, including a divestment at the federal level, has contributed to subpar infrastructure.

Now Congress has an opportunity to close the $2.59 trillion investment gap while repairing the economic damage from the COVID-19 pandemic. This week, President Biden introduced the American Jobs Plan, an 8-year $2.25 trillion proposal that includes:

• $621 billion for transportation infrastructure and resilience. The American Jobs Plan suggests $115 billion to modernize bridges, highways, roads, and main streets; $ 20 billion to improve road safety for all users; $85 billion to modernize existing transit systems; $80 billion to address Amtrak’s repair backlog; $174 billion to investment in electric vehicle market; $25 billion in our airports including direct funding for the Airport Improvement Program; $17 billion for inland waterways, coastal ports, land ports of entry, and ferries, which are all essential to our nation’s freight; $20 billion for a new program that will reconnect neighborhoods cut off by historic transportation investments; $25 billion to projects of regional or national economic importance; and $50 billion is dedicated to make investments in resilience. 
• $111 billion to rebuild drinking water infrastructure. This would include replacing all lead drinking water lines with $45 billion invested through drinking water state revolving loan funds and Water Infrastructure Improvements for the National (WIIN) Act grants; $10 billion to monitor and remediate PFAS; and $56 billion in grants and loans to upgrade and modernize drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater systems.
• $100 billion for power infrastructure. This would include $16 billion to plug orphan oil and gas wells and cleaning up abandoned mines and $5 billion investment in the remediation and redevelopment of Brownfield and Superfund sites.
• $100 billion to upgrade and build new public schools, especially improving indoor air quality and ventilation.
• $100 billion would also be invested to build high-speed broadband service in unserved and underserved  areas.
• $35 billion provided for climate science research.

Beyond raising the grades, the investments provided in the American Jobs Plan would result in long-term economic gains for American families and businesses.

Failure to Act: Economic Impacts of Status Quo Investment Across Infrastructure Systems  found that should underinvestment trends continue, subpar infrastructure will cost our nation $10.3 trillion in GDP, $2.4 trillion in exports, and $63 a week for the average American household over the next 20 years.  

Now is the time for action. ASCE urges Congress and the Administration to work together to develop a comprehensive, bipartisan, infrastructure bill that will rebuild and modernize our infrastructure systems, while growing the economy, increasing public safety, and creating jobs and more resilient communities.