House Panel Hears Call for Work Safety, Buy America from Transportation Coalition
WASHINGTON—The 2021 federal infrastructure funding law was a much-needed course correction after years of status quo investment, but delivering the surface transportation network our nation deserves is not just a five-year endeavor. That was the core message Gary Johnson, vice president of Watsonville, Calif.-based Granite Construction Inc. who testified on Feb. 26 to members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.
As part of the Transportation Construction Coalition, Mr. Johnson highlighted three areas for potential policy improvements in the next multi-year surface transportation reauthorization bill:
• Preserve and grow current highway and public transportation investment levels with user fee revenues that reflect all vehicles on the road.
• Ensure Buy America provisions, which the TCC fully supports, do not impede project delivery by preserving the exemption for aggregates and paving materials, and by requiring federal agencies to create a public database of commercially available, compliant materials.
• Protect the men and women who make our mobility possible by incentivizing states to implement stricter work zone safety measures such as automated speed enforcement.
Mr. Johnson noted that states have committed $183 billion highway and bridge formula funds from the 2021 law, which now support over 91,000 new projects—at least one in nearly every county in the U.S.
“Projects across the U.S. are driving an increase in heavy equipment sales, asphalt and concrete production and record employment levels for highway and bridge construction. Outcomes like these are proof the law is working as intended,” Mr. Johnson said.
The TCC is a partnership of 34 national associations and construction unions representing hundreds of thousands of individuals with a direct market interest in federal transportation programs. Established in July 1996 and co-chaired by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) and the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of America, the TCC focuses on federal budget and surface transportation program policy issues.