For the past year, I have been optimistic that we would finally be arriving at our destination of enacting an infrastructure bill. I have known for the past several years that this journey would take a long, long time and that there would be numerous detours on the way. And now, at what seems to be the final leg of the trip, I think we are going to have to go a bit farther.
According to Market Watch, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said her new target date for advancing the Senate-passed infrastructure bill is October 31. That happens to be when a 30-day extension for surface-transportation funding runs out. It also happens to be at the same time that President Joe Biden will be in Scotland for the “COP26” climate talks hosted by the United Nations. There is also seemingly a significant roadblock that is moving the infrastructure bill forward accompanied by a larger package that addresses climate change, “human infrastructure,” and other Democratic Party priorities.
Construction equipment manufacturers are also anxious to arrive at our “destination.” The Association of Equipment Manufacturers’ (AEM) Advocacy Team, along with dozens more equipment manufacturing representatives, met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill a few weeks ago to push for the immediate passage of the bipartisan infrastructure bill by the U.S. House of Representatives.
Kate Fox Wood is the AEM senior director of government relations and lead organizer of the 2021 AEM Washington Fly-in. She said, “This bill will not only rebuild and modernize our transportation, water, energy, and communications infrastructure but also has the potential to create 100,000 family-sustaining equipment manufacturing jobs before the end of President Biden’s first term."
So, it appears we have to wait until Halloween to find out how much longer this “trip” is going to take. Ben Koltun, the director of research at Beacon Policy Advisors, said, “The deadline mentality last month was not enough to get Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) to offer a framework that progressives would accept on BBB. The centrists continue to not publicly seem pressed by any near-term deadlines.” He was referring to Biden’s Build Back Better (BBB) plan that calls for spending tied to climate change and social programs.
I don’t think anyone knows if or when we’ll ever get there.