House Leadership Sets Monday Vote on Infrastructure

With both the House and Senate back in session, Congress faces a long list of tasks. With the end of the fiscal year at the end of this month, authorizations for government funding will expire as well as current authorizations for both surface transportation and flood insurance. In addition, the federal borrowing limit was reached in August and the Treasury is expected to exhaust its ability to fully meet its obligations sometime in the middle of October.

In addition to these deadlines, House Democratic leadership is juggling political and policy questions related to the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the reconciliation package. As part of a deal struck with moderate Democrats demanding a stand-alone vote on infrastructure, Speaker Pelosi agreed that the House would consider the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) by September 27. Democratic leadership indicated on Tuesday, September 21, that the House would vote on the IIJA on September 27. House progressives are likely to vote against the IIJA, insisting that they first pass a reconciliation package to be sent to the Senate. The reconciliation package is not ready and is unlikely to be ready by next Monday.

House Republicans have been unwilling to commit to supporting the bill, claiming that it is inextricably linked to the larger reconciliation package. Without enough Republican votes to offset the progressive “no” votes, the bipartisan infrastructure package will fail.

NRMCA and its coalition partners are continuing to meet with congressional offices, both Republican and Democratic, to urge support for the IIJA. The coalition has engaged with House leadership of both parties as well as the White House, coordinating industry support for the IIJA. In addition, NRMCA and its coalition allies have sent many letters to congressional offices. Last week, many of NRMCA’s state affiliates joined in sending letters supporting the passage of IIJA to their state delegations. And most recently, NRMCA joined more than 110 organizations, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Associated General Contractors and the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, in sending a letter urging passage of the IIJA.

What can you do?

• Call your representative. You can look up your representative here and call his or her office to express your support for the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
• Click here to send your representative a pre-written letter (feel free to edit) urging him or her to support the IIJA when it comes up for a vote.

For more information, contact Andrew Tyrrell at atyrrell@nrmca.org.