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Georgia to receive second-largest share of left-over federal highway funds

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Repurposed Highway Funds 2016The Federal Highway Administration (FHwA) has laid out plans for redistributing to states about $2 billion—and potentially more—that had been set aside more than a decade ago for highway and bridge projects but is still unspent.

The 2016 omnibus appropriations bill, enacted on Dec. 18, mandated the funding shift for the so-called orphan earmarks and said the money had to be parceled out to states by Sept. 30, the end of the current fiscal year.

FHwA’s long-awaited announcement, released on March 8, is another piece of positive news for state highway agencies as well as road and bridge engineers and contractors.

It follows the Dec. 4 signing of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation, or FAST Act, which provided a boost of about $2 billion, or 5%, for highway and bridge funding in fiscal year 2016.

The earmark funding “is really a shot in the arm for the construction industry, for the 2016 construction season,” says Jay Hansen, National Asphalt Pavement Association executive vice president. “On top of the FAST Act, this is icing on the cake.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.enr.com/articles/38978-fhwa-details-plans-to-reuse-2b-unspent-on-old-earmarks

$1.1 trillion spending bill to trigger a ‘substantial lift’ in construction

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The construction industry should get a substantial lift in coming months, thanks to a newly enacted $1.14-trillion government-wide fiscal year 2016 spending measure that boosts most major federal construction accounts, with General Services Administration (GSA) and Dept. of Veterans Affairs (VA) programs scoring exceptional increases. But there were some funding cuts, such as in Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) water infrastructure, which was pared slightly.

The $1.14 trillion FY16 Omnibus Appropriations bill increases spending for many federal construction programs and gives extensions to renewable energy tax credits for wind, solar and geothermal projects and other business tax incentives,.
The $1.14 trillion FY16 Omnibus Appropriations bill increases spending for many federal construction programs and gives extensions to renewable energy tax credits for wind, solar and geothermal projects and other business tax incentives.  (Click on image above to see text of the Bill.)

The giant appropriations bill was part of a package that also included extensions for a long list of tax incentives for individuals and businesses, including construction firms, with some items extended permanently. The “extenders” bill would cost the Treasury $622 billion over 10 years, the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation estimates.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.enr.com/articles/38435-house-passes-spending-bill-with-big-gains-for-construction

Highway bill will generate not only construction work but $13 billion for equipment industry

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Transportation Bill
President Obama signed into a law a five-year, $305 billion transportation bill on December 4, 2015, with just hours to spare before the scheduled expiration of the nation’s road and transit spending.

The recently approved highway bill that was passed by lawmakers will create $13 billion in economic activity related to construction equipment and generate 4,000 jobs at equipment dealerships, according to a new study released by the Associated Equipment Distributors (AED).

The Oak Brook, Ill.-based group said Wednesday the new $305 billion highway bill will stimulate approximately 6.4 cents in growth the equipment industry for every dollar that is spending on infrastructure.

“The new analysis clearly illustrates what AED told lawmakers for almost a decade: restoring certainty to the federal highway program will yield positive economic benefits for equipment distributors, manufacturers and their employees,” AED President Brian McGuire said in a statement.

“Equipment distributors were decimated during the recession and recovery has been slow due to volatility surrounding federal infrastructure programs,” McGuire continued. “The FAST Act will revive the industry, create jobs, and lay the groundwork for solid economic growth.”

The 1,300-page bill, paid for with gas tax revenue and a package of $70 billion in offsets from other areas of the federal budget, is the first multi-year highway funding measure approved by lawmakers in a decade.

Keep reading this article at: http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/262678-study-highway-bill-will-generate-13b-for-equipment-industry

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