NAPA commends BUILD America 250 Act; T&I mark up Scheduled
The House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee’s surface transportation reauthorization bill will ensure asphalt producers and contractors receive the federal financial support and policies needed to maintain and advance our national roadway network in the years ahead, NAPA leadership wrote in a letter to committee leadership endorsing the bill.
The BUILD America 250 Act, introduced May 19 by a bipartisan coalition led by T&I Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO) and the Committee’s Ranking Member Rick Larsen (D-WA) and scheduled for a May 21 mark up, invests $580 billion over five years, primarily in core infrastructure.
“The House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee is a beacon of bipartisanship – efforts that are on full display in this major legislative process,” reads the letter. “Thank you for the introduction of BUILD America 250 Act, which NAPA endorses.”
NAPA’s letter, signed by Chair of the Board Jay Lemon, President & CEO Audrey Copeland, and Vice President of Government Affairs Nile Elam, praises an array of policies in the over 1,000-page bill, including:
- Maintaining historic investments in roads and highways;
- Prioritizing formula funds that empower states to direct the projects that are most important to their local needs;
- Addressing work zone safety through a novel interagency working group, expanded work zone safety grant programs, and deployment of effective work zone safety technologies;
- Including fees on electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, the first new user fee injection into the Highway Trust Fund in over three decades; and
- Focusing on delivering efficient projects by including pragmatic permit reforms that speed up delivery.
“We are eager to lead the chorus of support from our industry members and others across the construction industry,” the letter reads.
