The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), Alexandria, Va., is among the groups favoring passage of a $375 billion federal highway and transportation bill.
U.S. House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee members from both parties have introduced the spending bill, which is a reauthorization of the existing TEA-21 transportation spending act.
Expressing its support in a news release, the AGC says the bill will “have a stimulative effect on the national economy.”
The contractors’ trade group notes that “highway construction was down 18 percent in August from July and down six percent in the first eight months of the year as compared to the same period last year.”
This slowdown, which has affected concrete and asphalt contract crushers and other suppliers of recycled aggregates, has been largely attributed to the drying up of federal highway funds available to state transportation agencies as the previous six-year bill winds down.
“As we face an economy without any significant job growth, it is important to provide the support necessary to keep the recovery on track,” says AGC CEO Stephen E. Sandherr. “Jobs are the missing link, and if Congress and the Administration are looking to create jobs, they need to look no further than this six-year transportation bill.”