Members of Key Congressional Panel Unveil Infrastructure Investment Package

By Elizabeth Brotherton-Bunch
Jun 03 2020 |
Photo courtesy New York State Thruway Authority

The INVEST in America Act would authorize nearly $500 billion in spending to rebuild America.

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) released text of legislation on Wednesday to invest $500 billion in America’s bridges, roads, transit systems, and railways.

Titled the INVEST in America Act, the bill would allocate funding to a “massive backlog of roads, bridges, and transit systems in need of repair and replacement.” Importantly, the legislation includes Buy America provisions, which will ensure taxpayer money is reinvested back into local communities rather than being sent overseas. This will create jobs and provide a critical boost to the economy as the country works to recover from the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.

About $319 billion would go to highway investments – including replacing the 47,000 structurally deficient bridges across the country – and $105 billion would fund transit investments, such as increasing investment in zero-emission buses.

The legislation also would allocate $60 billion for rail systems, including tripling the funding for Amtrak. Safety programs would receive $10 billion in funding.

Here at the Alliance for American Manufacturing, we think that the country is rebuilding America’s crumbling bridges, roads, transit systems, and railways is long overdue. AAM President Scott Paul said in a statement that while “rebuilding America is a long journey… the introduction of this legislation is an important step forward on the road to that destination.”

“Our nation had massive infrastructure needs prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has only added to the urgency,” he added. “We look forward to working with Mr. DeFazio and policymakers to make this change happen soon.”

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