It’s been five years since the federal infrastructure bill was approved by Congress and it is up for reauthorization.
Members of the state Congressional delegation and a representative of a national transportation organization say getting that bill reauthorized is possible in the current session, despite the division in Washington, D.C.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and U.S. Reps. Joe Courtney (D-2nd), Rosa DeLauro (D-3rd), Jim Himes (D-4th) and Jahana Hayes (D-5th) joined Alison Premo Black, senior vice president and chief economist for the American Road & Transportation Builders Association, to speak during an event in Wallingford Tuesday morning hosted by the Connecticut Construction Industries Association.
The Federal Transportation Funding & Policy Breakfast was held at the Hilton Garden Inn and attended by about 200 association members
Black said her organization still believes “that transportation has the ability to unite both sides of the aisle” in Washington, D.C.
“I think one example of that was the bipartisanship with the enactment of the Department of Transportation funding bill that will provide $3.4 billion over the current high levels of funding,” she said.
Black noted that her organization tracks DOT funding in all 50 states and that, over the past five years, state DOT funding increased by 10% to 13%. “Federal funding has driven 75% of that growth,” she said.
Federal funding has also resulted in construction contractors nationwide hiring 41,000 new workers over the past five years, she said.
Donald J. Shubert, president of the Connecticut Construction Industries Association, opened the event by stating that reauthorizing the infrastructure bill is not just about roads and bridges.
“It’s about economic growth, supply chain reliability, workforce development and the quality of life in Connecticut,” he said.
Both Shubert and Black cited priorities they would like the bill to address, including efficient project delivery, workforce development and worker safety, and growing federal investment in highways, public transit and rail systems.
Black said her organization is seeking a bill with at least $630 billion in funding.
Courtney said the biggest challenge to passing a new federal infrastructure bill is “the clock.”
Congress is considering the Homeland Security funding bill, a potential defense supplemental bill for the war in Iran and the National Defense Authorization Act, he said, adding that the White House still has not submitted its budget for Fiscal Year 2027.
“So the bandwidth, in terms of trying to get stuff like that done, plus the infrastructure bill, is going to be a big challenge,” Courtney said. “The external pressure of all the groups here is really more important than ever.”
Himes highlighted two bridges in Fairfield County — in the Byram section of Greenwich — that connect with Portchester, New York.
“These bridges are dangerous,” he said. “So it’s not just about convenience and getting to work. It is actually about safety.”
Replacing those bridges is projected to take seven years and that is too long, he said. He noted that the Fairfield Avenue Bridge in Norwalk reopened just seven months after it was severely damaged by a fire.
“On an emergency basis, that bridge got built under budget and a lot faster than was projected,” he said. “We need to make what is done on an emergency basis standard operating procedure.”
DeLauro, who serves as ranking member on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, emphasized the importance of federal investment in infrastructure, highlighting the impact of the previous bill, which provided $15.7 billion to Connecticut over five years and funded nearly 380 projects.
She stressed the need for reauthorization, mentioning a potential $250 billion supplemental request and the necessity of maintaining funding for transportation and housing projects.
She also called for a coordinated message from local and state governments, industry leaders and labor to push for continued infrastructure investment.
“We’re going to get every goddamn dollar we can,” she said, to raucous applause.
