Transportation Infrastructure for Job Creation Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1428 Making supplemental appropriations for fiscal year 2019 for the BUILD Discretionary Grant program, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 28, 2019 Ms. WATERS (for herself, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. MOORE, Mr. SIRES, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Penn- sylvania, Ms. OMAR, Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CLEAVER, Mrs. TORRES of California, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. CICILLINE, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. JOHNSON of Texas, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. LYNCH, Ms. TLAIB, and Mrs. BEATTY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Appropriations, and in addition to the Committee on the Budg- et, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL Making supplemental appropriations for fiscal year 2019 for the BUILD Discretionary Grant program, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Transportation Infra- 4 structure for Job Creation Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:56 Feb 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1428.IH H1428 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1428 IH SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 Congress finds the following: 2 (1) Investments in infrastructure create jobs 3 while fulfilling critical needs in communities 4 throughout the United States. 5 (2) According to the Brookings Institution, 6 nearly 14.5 million workers—11 percent of the U.S. 7 workforce—were employed in infrastructure jobs in 8 2013. 9 (3) According to data from the Brookings Insti- 10 tution, infrastructure occupations often provide more 11 competitive and equitable wages in comparison to all 12 jobs nationally, consistently paying up to 30 percent 13 more to low-income workers. 14 (4) The American Society of Civil Engineers 15 gave the infrastructure of the United States an over- 16 all grade of ‘‘D+’’ in 2017 and estimated that the 17 United States will need to invest $4.59 trillion by 18 2025 in order to improve the condition of the Na- 19 tion’s infrastructure and bring it to a state of good 20 repair. 21 (5) The American Society of Civil Engineers as- 22 signed a ‘‘D’’ grade to the Nation’s roads, a ‘‘C+’’ 23 grade to the Nation’s bridges, and a ‘‘D¥’’ grade 24 to the Nation’s transit systems and estimated that 25 the United States will need to invest $2.04 trillion 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:56 Feb 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1428.IH H1428 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1428 IH by 2025 to bring the Nation’s surface transportation 1 infrastructure to a state of good repair. 2 (6) BUILD is a nationwide competitive grant 3 program that creates jobs by funding investments in 4 transportation infrastructure by States, local govern- 5 ments, and transit agencies. 6 (7) BUILD is formally known as the Better 7 Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development 8 (BUILD) Transportation Grants program and was 9 previously known as the Transportation Investment 10 Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant pro- 11 gram. 12 (8) BUILD funds projects that will have a sig- 13 nificant impact on the Nation, a metropolitan area, 14 or a region. 15 (9) In distributing grants under BUILD, the 16 Secretary of Transportation is required to ensure an 17 equitable geographic distribution of funds, a balance 18 in addressing the needs of urban and rural areas, 19 and investments in a variety of modes of transpor- 20 tation. 21 (10) TIGER or BUILD received an appropria- 22 tion of $600,000,000 in fiscal year 2014, an appro- 23 priation of $500,000,000 in fiscal year 2015, an ap- 24 propriation of $500,000,000 in fiscal year 2016, an 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:56 Feb 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1428.IH H1428 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1428 IH appropriation of $500,000,000 in fiscal year 2017, 1 and an appropriation of $1,500,000,000 in fiscal 2 year 2018. 3 (11) Past appropriations for TIGER and 4 BUILD are not sufficient to address the need for in- 5 vestments in transportation infrastructure in com- 6 munities throughout the United States as the 7 amounts only fund a small fraction of the transpor- 8 tation infrastructure projects for which grant appli- 9 cations have been received. 10 (12) Appropriating $7.5 billion in fiscal year 11 2019 for BUILD and allowing the funds to remain 12 available for 6 years will enable the Secretary of 13 Transportation to begin immediately to expand in- 14 vestments in transportation infrastucture throughout 15 the United States. 16 (13) Restricting appropriations for BUILD 17 through the use of arbitrary budget caps or seques- 18 tration undermines economic recovery and job cre- 19 ation efforts; disrupts planning by States, local gov- 20 ernments, and transit agencies; and leaves critical 21 infrastructure needs unmet. 22 (14) Emergency supplemental appropriations 23 for BUILD, provided in addition to other appropria- 24 tions and not subject to sequestration, will improve 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:56 Feb 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1428.IH H1428 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1428 IH transportation infrastructure and create jobs 1 throughout the United States without reducing 2 funding for other domestic priorities. 3 (15) An emergency supplemental appropriation 4 of $7.5 billion for BUILD to be made available in 5 fiscal year 2019 and to remain available for 6 years 6 will allow the Secretary of Transportation to begin 7 immediately to organize new competitions for 8 BUILD grants and allow States, local governments, 9 and transit agencies to prepare grant applications, 10 thus ensuring an efficient use of funds and timely 11 job creation. 12 SEC. 3. SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS FOR BUILD DIS- 13 CRETIONARY GRANT PROGRAM. 14 The following sums are appropriated, out of any 15 money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for fis- 16 cal year 2019: 17 DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 18 OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY 19 NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS 20 For an additional amount for ‘‘National Infrastruc- 21 ture Investments’’ in accordance with the provisions under 22 this heading in title I of division K of Public Law 115– 23 31, $7,500,000,000, to remain available through Sep- 24 tember 30, 2024: Provided, That the amount under this 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:56 Feb 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1428.IH H1428 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1428 IH heading is designated by the Congress as an emergency 1 requirement pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A) of the Bal- 2 anced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, 3 except that such amount shall be available only if the 4 President subsequently so designates such amount and 5 transmits such designation to the Congress. 6 SEC. 4. EXEMPTION FROM SEQUESTRATION. 7 The appropriation in section 3 shall be exempt from 8 sequestration under the Balanced Budget and Emergency 9 Deficit Control Act of 1985. 10 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:56 Feb 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1428.IH H1428 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS