Some, but far from all, federal infrastructure and construction programs would gain increases under congressional spending measures covering the rest of fiscal year 2020. The two-package legislation emerged from negotiations between Senate and House appropriators. The House passed the bills on Dec. 17. The Senate was expected to follow suit by Dec. 21, when a stopgap spending bill was to lapse.
Construction accounts fare unevenly under the new bills. At the Dept. of Transportation, the highway obligation limit is set at $46.4 billion, up 2% from 2019. Lawmakers also allocated $2.23 billion for discretionary highway programs, down 33% from 2019. Of the $2.2 billion, bridge reconstruction would get $1.15 billion. DOT’s popular BUILD, formerly TIGER, grants would get $1 billion, up 11% from this year.