WASHINGTON, DC — On March 28 Related Builders and Contractors member Aric Dreher, assistant normal supervisor, Cianbro, headquartered in Pittsfield, Maine, right this moment testified earlier than the U.S. Home of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Highways and Transit in the course of the listening to “Reviewing the Implementation of the Infrastructure Funding and Jobs Act.”
Testifying on behalf of ABC, Dreher mentioned that, for the reason that Infrastructure Funding and Jobs Act was signed into legislation in 2021, the development trade has been confronted with report inflation, provide chain delays, continued workforce shortages and an ever-increasing regulatory burden.
“The bipartisan IIJA has been hailed as a once-in-a-generation alternative to construct and restore our nation’s most crucial infrastructure, together with the highways and bridges which have been in want of funding for many years,” mentioned Dreher, however “it’s turning into more and more tough for building initiatives to proceed as initially deliberate.”
Dreher mentioned that building supplies costs are up 11% for the reason that IIJA was signed into legislation; the trade workforce scarcity is greater than half one million; and provide chain snarls have resulted in restricted supplies availability and unpredictable supply instances. Coupling these financial complications with cumbersome rules like Purchase America provisions and anti-competitive, inflationary undertaking labor settlement mandates on federal and federally assisted building initiatives by way of Govt Order 14063 may doubtlessly negate the supposed optimistic impression of IIJA funds all through communities.
“People deserve extra environment friendly and efficient insurance policies that may encourage all certified contractors and their expert workforces to compete to construct long-lasting initiatives at the very best value,” mentioned Dreher. “Upholding the bipartisan rules included within the IIJA shall be key to the enduring success of this laws and the efficient modernization of our nation’s infrastructure.”
Based in 1949, Cianbro is among the nation’s largest, 100% employee-owned, open store building and building providers corporations, working in additional than 40 states and using greater than 4,000 crew members. Overseeing all operations in Cianbro’s infrastructure market, Dreher led groups on a number of the firm’s most revolutionary and difficult infrastructure initiatives, together with the phased improvement of the District Wharf in Washington, DC; building of the 175-foot-tall Capital Wheel at Nationwide Harbor overlooking the Potomac River in Oxon Hill, Maryland; and the U.S. Naval Academy’s McNair Street Bridge substitute in Annapolis, Maryland.
Learn the complete testimony right here.