Convention’s Legislative Briefing Preps Citizen Lobbyists on FAR Credits Clause and Infrastructure Package

Advocacy / Convention

April 27, 2021

Convention’s Legislative Briefing Preps Citizen Lobbyists on FAR Credits Clause and Infrastructure Package

At the ACEC Legislative Briefing at the ACEC Convention, ACEC Advocacy SVP Steve Hall and Transportation VP Matt Reiffer highlighted the key issues for the Council’s virtual grassroots lobbying campaign over the coming months.

“Infrastructure is the opportunity for 2021, but protecting firms with PPP loans is a challenge and a priority that we’re going to stay focused on,” Hall said.

Hall called the recent FHWA guidance that placed significant limits on the FAR Credits Clause in federal contracts “a step forward,” but stressed, “We will continue to push for a waiver, although a legislative fix may be needed to limit separate state policies.”  

Reiffer compared the Administration’s $2.25 trillion American Jobs Plan with the $568 billion proposal recently released by Senate Republicans.

About $1 trillion in the American Jobs Plan would go to the built environment over eight years. The increased road and bridge investment would focus on repairs and renovations rather than expansion, and transit and rail would get big increases, as would resilience and equity initiatives. Other parts of the proposal would invest in rural broadband, water, and the energy grid.

“The rub for us and the business community is in the pay-fors,” he said, which would focus on corporate tax increases rather than user fees.

The Republican proposal is more of a traditional infrastructure bill. The five-year package would increase roads and bridges funding and more than double airport investment but cut funds for rail and transit. It would not raise taxes, relying instead on increased user fees and repurposing unused funds.

“We’re encouraged by it,” Reiffer said. “It’s a meaningful offer and people are taking it seriously.”

Hall encouraged the audience to work with their state organizations and ACEC to schedule meetings with the Congressional delegations in the coming weeks to advocate for the FAR Credits Clause waiver and robust infrastructure investment.

Click here for a fact sheet on ACEC’s 2021 infrastructure agenda.

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