NEW YORK—The New York Building Congress has launched the Infrastructure Action Council (IAC), a group of building industry leaders driving infrastructure advocacy efforts at the state and federal levels.

The 12-charter member Infrastructure Action Council will work to ensure federal funding under the historic Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) is expedited to critical infrastructure projects in New York and around the nation, the Building Congress announced recently.

“More than a year and a half since President Biden’s signing of the historic $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, we’re still sitting on billions of unspent federal dollars that we can use to improve the lives of millions of Americans,” said Carlo A. Scissura, Esq., president and CEO of the New York Building Congress. “The Infrastructure Action Council unites leading voices in our nation’s building industry to advance our ongoing efforts to fund transformative projects across the state. This group’s commitment to returning the U.S. to the vanguard of infrastructure innovation is inspirational. Trust me when I say the IAC is ready to get to work.”

The charter members of the Infrastructure Action Council are: AECOM, Batska Consulting Group, BRAVO Group, General Contractors Association of New York, Inc., Global Infrastructure Solutions Inc., Halmar International LLC, Langan, Syska Hennessy Group, STV Inc., Suffolk, Thornton Tomasetti and WSP USA

Members of the IAC, led by the Building Congress, will meet with state and federal leaders in Albany and Washington, D.C. to promote critical legislation to facilitate:

• The allocation of IIJA funding and get shovels in the ground;
• Streamline projects by expediting environmental reviews, the permitting processes and overall project approvals;
• The release of IIJA funds by federal agencies;
• Increasing infrastructure funding support for the MTA, Port Authority and other agency capital programs;
• Expanding IIJA education and outreach opportunities to equip entities with the knowledge and resources needed to determine funding eligibility and submit applications;
• Create a new state program to incentivize the creation of affordable housing units;
• Removing barriers to entry into the workforce;
• Ensuring that our industry is equipped to deliver on these projects.