U.S. House Begins Work On Infrastructure Spending Bill

On May 17, U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-Mo.) and Ranking Member Rick Larsen (D-Wash.) released a bipartisan surface transportation reauthorization bill that will provide funding certainty and support investment in U.S. roads, bridges, rail systems, and other infrastructure projects.

Passage of this legislation is a key priority for the industrial metals and manufacturing industries since the existing authorization expires on Sept. 30, 2026. Additionally, according to the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), highway congestion and port delays alone are costing manufacturers nearly $40 billion annually, and freight delays account for 65 million hours of lost efficiency each year.

By approving a robust surface transportation reauthorization bill, federal lawmakers can begin to reduce congestion and improve reliability of the nation’s infrastructure system. Introduction of legislation was just a first step, however.

After nearly 14 hours of markup and discussion on May 22, the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee voted 62-2 to approve the bill. The legislation now heads toward consideration by the full House where Committee Chairman Graves said he looks forward to moving the bill on the House floor “in the near future,” with the goal of sending final legislation to the president before the current surface transportation reauthorization expires Sept. 30. (The U.S. Senate, of course, also much consider its version of the bill before President Donald Trump can sign anything into law.)