Washington Report: A New Year, a New Administration

By Patty Power, ACPA Washington Advocate

January marked the beginning of the New Year, the 117th Congress, and the Biden-Harris Administration. While there have already been many changes with these new starts, the growing challenges of living with the coronavirus is not one of them, unfortunately. COVID-19 continues to drive government activity at all levels across the country. With 500,000 dead expected by the end of February, meeting public health needs is paramount. Vaccine distribution is the bright light at the very long tunnel. However, social distancing requirements necessary to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 continue to negatively affect our economy and our citizens.

The CRRSAA

At the end of December, Congress passed and President Trump signed the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA). Infrastructure needs were addressed with $10 billion going to the State Departments of Transportation which have seen reduced receipts from gas tax collections due to people staying home more. The bill also provides $20 billion for transit agencies across the country which have been similarly impacted by severely reduced ridership. The CRRSAA expanded the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) by allowing a second round to small businesses that continue to need support—over 100,000 businesses have permanently closed since the start of the pandemic. PPP is designed to help businesses stay open and survive COVID.

CRRSAA includes additional assistance for the hungry and for food producers. Over 26 million Americans face food insecurity, the bulk of whom are children. CRRSAA provides rental assistance and extends the eviction moratorium. Over 19 million Americans face eviction and possible homelessness. The CRRSAA also extended federal unemployment insurance through mid-March. Over 19 million remain on the country’s unemployment rolls. In addition to providing assistance to those Americans suffering from the economic impacts of COVID-19, the CRRSAA also provides funding for public health expenses, including vaccine manufacturing and distribution, testing and tracing, and medical care, as well as for education, both K through 12 and higher education.

The American Rescue Plan

COVID-19 raged as Joe Biden was inaugurated as president on January 20—daily deaths climbed to over 4,000 in that month. President Biden’s first major legislative initiative is the American Rescue Plan, which was announced the week prior to his inauguration and again in more detail immediately afterward.

The American Rescue Plan is the “go big” approach to addressing the immediate health and economic COVID- 19 impacts, ringing in at $1.9 trillion. While continuing bipartisan discussions (over a deep gap; the Democrats support three times the spending level in the Republicans’ proposal), the House and Senate, now both controlled by the Democrats, are proceeding with a budget reconciliation process to pass the American Rescue Plan.

The legislative package is being released as we go to press, but we expect to see more public health funding, specifically for vaccine manufacture and distribution, more support for getting children back in the classroom, additional funding for housing and hunger needs, as well as support for small business and industries especially hard hit by the pandemic.

Of note, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will consider $30 billion for transit needs across the country, including funding for the Capital Investment Grants program, which funds new transit construction projects.

The American Rescue Plan is part one of President Biden’s two-part COVID response legislative plan. The second part is the “Build Back Better” plan. The details are limited at this time, but are expected to be shared at the State of the Union address later in February. The Build Back Better plan is intended to be an economic stimulus to support our economy’s rebound once the COVID-19 pandemic is under control and Americans are back to work and school. Infrastructure is central to the Build Back Better plan.

Climate change considerations are also expected to be a critical part of the Build Back Better plan. ACPA has been working with our NACA partners to both promote robust federal infrastructure programs and to incorporate resiliency requirements and life cycle cost analysis requirements into the authorizations. When materials are analyzed objectively for performance over time, concrete competes very well. As the Build Back Better plan develops, ACPA will be looking for opportunities to support much-needed infrastructure construction funding and will work with our concrete and construction industry partners to highlight the benefits of concrete.

Our Priorities

There are a few issues high on ACPA’s radar for the 117th Congress. Now that prospects for an infrastructure legislative package look promising, we are working to finalize the Concrete Pump Tax Fairness Act, finalizing some details to simplify the approach before completing the draft bill. We are carefully watching three other issues as the infrastructure package develops.

First is a potential rollback of the Hours of Services fixes finalized in 2019. Second is a potential increase in truck insurance requirements. Third is monitoring continuing activity of the wood industry to promote tall-wood buildings and working with our partners to strategize and lobby against their attempts. As we did in the 115th Congress, we will find congressional champions to question the wood industry’s position and fight against it.

2021 will be a busy year for ACPA’s team in Washington. We will be constantly looking for opportunities to expand the concrete industry’s market share and ways to reduce costs for pumpers. At the same time, we will be vigilant in monitoring legislative and regulatory actions that could place unnecessary costs on the pumping industry. We invite you to join us this year for the NACA Cement and Concrete Fly-in on April 20–22, 2021, noon to 4:00 pm each day.

The 2021 Fly-in will be virtual. While it will be a very different experience from our normal in-person event, it will still be very beneficial. Capitol Hill has been closed to visitors for nearly a year now, so the congressional offices are well adapted to virtual fly-ins by now. The fact that it is virtual may give more ACPA members the opportunity to participate without the burden of travel. Registration is now open. See page 34 in this issue for more information.