Where we stand on the infrastructure bill

Although Thursday was the set to be the day in which the House voted on the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), ultimately recess for the night was called shortly after 10:30pm on Capitol Hill and the bill did not receive a vote. The failure to pass the IIJA, or a short-term extension, would only have a minimal repercussions over the weekend and shouldn't affect any current work or business.

Where we currently stand:

While the House did not vote on the IIJA, they also did not pass a short-term extension of the current highway authorization, the FAST Act, meaning the program has lapsed. The current implications of the programs lapsing means that positions of employees of federal agencies which are funded out of the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) are furloughed until funding is restored to the HTF. The Department of Transportation indicated that projects funded by existing grants will continue to receive funding, but no new grants will be able to be approved until a new (IIJA) or temporary (short term extension of FAST Act) authorization is passed.

There is an expectation of the IIJA receiving a vote today as Democrats continue to work on coming to an agreement on a separate, multi-trillion-dollar reconciliation package, which is acting as the main snag in passage of the IIJA. If they are unable to come to an agreement, a short-term extension, from anywhere between a week and a few months, would be on the table for passage prior to Sunday, when ramifications of a lapsed authorization would begin to be felt.

Now is your last chance. If you have not yet let your representative know that they need to vote YES on the IIJA, do so here.