Engineering News-Record - Tom Ichniowski
As the second anniversary of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act approaches, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg sees the implementation of the landmark legislation, which provides $1.2 trillion for public works projects, moving into a new phase.
The IIJA rollout was a major topic at a wide-ranging House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee oversight hearing on Sept. 20.
“One way to think about it is, if our first year was about the bill passing, and the second year was about the programs’ launching, this is about the money moving so we can get the dirt flying,” said Buttigieg, the sole witness at the hearing.
But as questions from committee members indicated—and Buttigieg acknowledged—the IIJA's rollout faces hurdles. They include the high costs of construction materials that have eaten away at federal dollars' purchasing power and the slower-than-hoped-for pace of turning federal appropriations into contracts and project groundbreakings.
