Thread by @RussellSieg

if you've been wondering why you haven't heard much about the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill funding translated into shovel-ready projects in your state, here's the answer:

Appropriations in a 50-50 Senate funded by continuing resolutions is a slog!
washingtonpost.com/transportation…

“A significant portion of our highway, transit & safety programs are limited” by caps in existing federal budget, said Carlos Monje Jr, DOT’s 3rd-highest official. “Without Congress actions, we aren’t going to be able to move on many of the new programs funded in the bill”

🤬

"Among them is $1.2B to help reduce carbon emissions & $1.4B to protect roads & bridges against effects of climate change. Although the Federal Railroad Administration is in line to receive $66 billion in the next 5 years, Monje said the agency can’t hire the staff it needs "

"to manage the significant infusion of money.

Some states, meanwhile, are putting off projects until Congress approves $9 billion in additional highway money."

"The issues stem from what Monje called a “wonderful dance” between lawmakers authorizing federal spending & those who appropriate the money. BIF authorized the money to be spent, but in many cases, it still needs a 2nd round of approval in the form of an appropriation."

Very clever, Mitch - I'm sure the 50 R's in Senate are really scrambling to appropriate that Trillion dollars to help Dems at Midterms...

"Congress hasn’t been able to agree on spending for the budget year that began in October, and instead "

"has been rolling forward last year’s appropriations. That approach does not include the increase in transportation spending."

Mitch loves the gridlock situations when the public thinks legislation has passed but the funding never materializes

then Biden gets the blame...

and Mitch's Dark Money donors enjoy the delay and resulting negative partisanship

anything to prevent our Democracy from making progress!

anything to prevent our government from making policy For The People

"A bridge collapse Friday in Pittsburgh served to heighten the urgency of restoring the nation’s infrastructure."

Yeah, no sh*t, Mitch loves the escalating tensions and cognitive dissonance in Washington

"There is a race against the clock on Capitol Hill b/c existing federal spending agreement is set to expire Feb. 18. By that point, lawmakers must pass another short-term measure, aka continuing resolution, or come to a deal on a larger plan"

You know Cruz itching for a shutdown

"Dems & R's in House & Senate began talks at end of last year, hoping to finance federal operations until the end of the fiscal year, which concludes Sept. 30. Both sides have expressed a desire to reach a deal & avert a showdown."

But Both Sides aren't operating in Good Faith

"Yet lawmakers long have been divided over the specifics of the budget. Democrats hope to approve massive boosts to federal domestic agencies, no longer capped by a law that limited such spending for a decade."

#Sequester Budget Control Act of 2011 finally ended?

"To that end, Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro (D-CT), the House’s top appropriator, led her party toward approving about a dozen spending bills that financed Biden’s proposals to expand federal health care, education and science programs."

"But the appropriations process became bogged down in the evenly divided Senate. Republicans, led by Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-AL), have rejected the scope of Dems’ spending plans, opposed some of Dems’ policy priorities and sought, instead, to boost the budget at the Pentagon."

"Mollie Timmons, spox for Sen. Portman (R-OH), 1 of senators who crafted BIF deal, said he was continuing to work w/colleagues “since completion of appropriations process is critical in order to fully implement the law.”

Portman's already measuring the drapes on K Street office?

"The BIF bill draws on several sources of funding for transportation. In an unusual step, lawmakers appropriated billions of dollars upfront, allowing the Admin to begin work on some signature programs in the law including a $27B investment in bridges Biden announced this month"

"But many programs still require the 2nd round of approval. The infrastructure law pumped $118B into the Highway Trust Fund, which can no longer cover expenses from gas tax revenue. That money is ready to be spent, but under the terms of the continuing resolution, "

"it is available only at levels that have been rolled forward from 2020 — a gap of about $9 billion this year for roads and $3 billion for transit."

"Tymon said that means some state DOTs, which are responsible for determining how much money is spent, are delaying plans at a time when they could have been seeking bids on projects. That translates into construction firms hiring more slowly & putting off other investments"

"At a meeting of the Transportation Research Board this month, the heads of federal highway, railroad and transit agencies said they were limited in what they could do until a full year of appropriations is in place."

Ward W. McCarragher, VP government affairs & advocacy at American Public Transportation Association, said transit agencies are in wait-and-see mode as construction season looms, reluctant to finalize plans.

“These are public entities that are very conservative in their approach”

Jim Tymon, exec. director of American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials:

“A lot of people have been celebrating the fact that this bill is going to make real progress in addressing climate change, yet we’re not able to move forward”

R's are Pro-Gridlock

"The programs affected most are those that weren’t provided with money upfront and aren’t included in the existing budget. That includes funds for some of the administration’s top priorities on the environment, safety and racial justice."