2021 Fall Washington Summit: Congress Seeks Your Expert Knowledge
It’s been the most productive year in Congress for infrastructure issue in decades. However, the job isn’t yet closed out, so we need the industry’s experts to make one final push this November. And this time, we’re going to Washington and our first industry visit to Capitol Hill since 2019. NUCA’s leadership is urging our members to join us on November 2-3 in Washington, D.C. for NUCA’s Fall Washington Summit.
In early August, our industry witnessed the Senate approving a $1.2 trillion core infrastructure bill (H.R. 3684) that if signed into law by the president will allocate an astounding $55 billion to replace and rebuild water distribution systems and remove harmful lead service lines. The same bill also included another $65 billion to install modern broadband infrastructure such as high-speed fiber optic cables. It also included $110 billion for highway and bridge projects, and billions more for airports, railroads, and ports.
These are real projects made of concrete and steel, and NUCA and our industry has been seeking this level of resources for over a decade. We’re happy to report that we’re closer to the finish line than ever before—but we’re not over it yet.
Let’s not miss this once-in-many-decades opportunity for growth and improvements.
Nothing in Washington is a done deal until it crosses the president’s oak Resolute desk and is signed into law. And with a bill this size, nothing is assured. We’ve already seen the U.S. House play politics with this core infrastructure bill all summer long, so we’re going to keep making the case to our lawmakers that this is a bill that deserves the bipartisan, broad support, like it received in the Senate’s 69-30 vote on August 10.
Our job this fall will be to also lobby our lawmakers to promote federal and state workforce development programs. We will soon have the resources for hundreds of new projects, but will our industry have the manpower to staff these projects next year and in the years ahead? The U.S. construction industry is already affected by labor shortages, and every contractor has been wondering where their next employees are going to be coming from. We’re also going to remind lawmakers to not make the situation worse by mandating project labor agreements (PLAs) for public works projects. That mandate would significantly reduce the number of companies and their employees available to work on jobsites.
Members of Congress want to hear from the experts in their communities on building or repairing water and wastewater lines, or what it will take to place faster broadband lines into your community. NUCA members are the community infrastructure experts, so we want as many NUCA members as possible in Washington on November 3 to lend us your knowledge and voices.
And a fall NUCA Washington Summit might just be the perfect time for you to make your case to lawmakers that local and national infrastructure projects in their districts and states are the way forward for your community’s economy and business growth.
Summit registration is now open, along with hotel information. You can find all registration information and the schedule for the
November Washington Summit on our dedicated Summit webpages, www.nuca.com/Summit and WeDigAmerica.com.