ACEC’s Darr Urges Passage of the INVEST in America Act

ACEC News

July 1, 2021

ACEC’s Darr Urges Passage of the INVEST in America Act

With the House expected to vote on the INVEST in America Act this week, ACEC President and CEO Linda Bauer Darr released the following statement:

“With the inclusion of drinking water and wastewater legislation, the INVEST in America Act represents a historic five-year $715 billion investment in America’s future that will empower the engineering industry to design safe and resilient infrastructure to meet the social, economic, and environmental challenges of the 21st Century.

“We are at a pivotal point in the infrastructure debate. The INVEST in America Act, when coupled with the larger bipartisan infrastructure package, would result in trillions of dollars going to hard infrastructure. This would be a historic investment in our roads, bridges, airports, and waterways, allowing us to clear project backlogs and begin designing tomorrow’s infrastructure today.

“The economics of this are simple. If you invest in infrastructure, you create good-paying jobs. For every job created in the engineering and design services sector, two more are added in related fields. Since 1 in 33 Americans already owes their job to the A/E space, it is easy to imagine the type of growth we could see with real long-term investment.

“We also appreciate the inclusion of a provision in the bill’s Manager’s Amendment to narrow the application of a credit from small business engineering firms that received PPP loans. We remain committed to working with lawmakers in the House and Senate on a comprehensive solution.”

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