In a year fraught with many triumphs and challenges, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has given the equipment manufacturing industry (and countless other industries) many reasons to celebrate. AEM was a leading advocate in getting this critically important bill across the finish line, and we are continuing to work with the White House and other leaders to implement the bill.
On Nov.15, 2021, President Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) into law, a bill commonly referred to as the bipartisan infrastructure bill. This historic piece of legislation provides a once-in-a-generation investment of $1.2 trillion dollars into the nation’s infrastructure; positively impacting urban and rural communities across the country by rebuilding roads and bridges, expanding access to clean drinking water, ensuring Americans have access to high-speed internet and making long-overdue investments in seaports, airports, and rail.
According to the White House, in its first year of implementation, nearly $185 billion in funding for specific projects, competitive grants and formulaic programs has been announced. The rest of the bill’s funding will be awarded over the next three years as part of competitive grants at the Department of Transportation, formulaic funding passed through state departments of transportation, and other federal agencies, such as the Department of Energy and Department of Commerce.
AEM has been a key player in the development and implementation of the infrastructure law. And since its passage last year, we’ve hosted several events around the country this year through our Infrastructure Vision 2050 Task Force. Our team made stops in Nashville and Milwaukee to convene local elected leaders for conversations focused on workforce development, as well as collaborating at the local level to put these federal dollars to meaningful projects. We will keep a steady cadence of hosting events next year that continue moving implementation of this bill forward.
While many of the projects and initiatives will take time to complete, AEM Advocacy Team have collected and will continue to update quality resources, information and updates about the implementation of the IIJA on the AEM Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act Resource Page. This site is frequently updated as funding opportunities are announced, and the country sees this bipartisan legislation come to life. If you have any questions or would like more information on IIJA Resources, please contact AEM's Chris Hansell at advocacy@aem.org.
Subscribe to the AEM Industry Advisor for more AEM staff perspectives.