Transportation Infrastructure for Job Creation Act

Summary: Transportation Infrastructure for Job Creation Act  This bill provides $7.5 billion in supplemental FY2017 appropriations to the Department of Transportation to remain available through FY2022 for national infrastructure investments under a competitive grant program commonly known as the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program.  The funding provided by this bill is designated as an emergency requirement pursuant to the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985. The emergency funding is exempt from discretionary spending limits and is only available if the President subsequently designates the amounts as an emergency and submits the designation to Congress.  The bill also exempts the funding from sequestration. (Sequestration is a process of automatic, usually across-the-board spending reductions under which budgetary resources are permanently cancelled to enforce specific budget policy goals.)

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Transportation Infrastructure for 
Job Creation Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Investments in infrastructure create jobs while 
        fulfilling critical needs in communities throughout the United 
        States.
            (2) According to the Brookings Institution, nearly 14.5 
        million workers--11 percent of the U.S. workforce--were 
        employed in infrastructure jobs in 2013.
            (3) According to data from the Brookings Institution, 
        infrastructure occupations often provide more competitive and 
        equitable wages in comparison to all jobs nationally, 
        consistently paying up to 30 percent more to low-income workers 
        over the past decade.
            (4) The American Society of Civil Engineers gave the 
        infrastructure of the United States an overall grade of ``D+'' 
        in 2017 and estimated that the United States will need to 
        invest $4.59 trillion by 2025 in order to improve the condition 
        of the Nation's infrastructure and bring it to a state of good 
        repair.
            (5) The American Society of Civil Engineers assigned a 
        ``D'' grade to the Nation's roads, a ``C+'' grade to the 
        Nation's bridges, and a ``D-'' grade to the Nation's transit 
        systems and estimated that the United States will need to 
        invest $2.04 trillion by 2025 to bring the Nation's surface 
        transportation infrastructure to a state of good repair.
            (6) TIGER, formally known as the Transportation Investment 
        Generating Economic Recovery grant program, is a nationwide 
        competitive grant program that creates jobs by funding 
        investments in transportation infrastructure by States, local 
        governments, and transit agencies.
            (7) TIGER funds projects that will have a significant 
        impact on the Nation, a metropolitan area, or a region.
            (8) In distributing grants under TIGER, the Secretary of 
        Transportation is required to ensure an equitable geographic 
        distribution of funds, a balance in addressing the needs of 
        urban and rural areas, and investments in a variety of modes of 
        transportation.
            (9) TIGER received an appropriation of $600,000,000 in 
        fiscal year 2014, an appropriation of $500,000,000 in fiscal 
        year 2015, and an appropriation of $500,000,000 in fiscal year 
        2016.
            (10) Past appropriations for TIGER are not sufficient to 
        address the need for investments in transportation 
        infrastructure in communities throughout the United States as 
        the amounts only fund a small fraction of the transportation 
        infrastructure projects for which TIGER grant applications have 
        been received.
            (11) Appropriating $7.5 billion in fiscal year 2017 for 
        TIGER and allowing the funds to remain available for 6 years 
        will enable the Secretary of Transportation to begin 
        immediately to expand investments in transportation 
        infrastucture throughout the United States.
            (12) Restricting appropriations for TIGER through the use 
        of arbitrary budget caps or sequestration undermines economic 
        recovery and job creation efforts; disrupts planning by States, 
        local governments, and transit agencies; and leaves critical 
        infrastructure needs unmet.
            (13) Emergency supplemental appropriations for TIGER, 
        provided in addition to other appropriations and not subject to 
        sequestration, will improve transportation infrastructure and 
        create jobs throughout the United States without reducing 
        funding for other domestic priorities.
            (14) An emergency supplemental appropriation of $7.5 
        billion for TIGER to be made available in fiscal year 2017 and 
        to remain available for 6 years will allow the Secretary of 
        Transportation to begin immediately to organize new 
        competitions for TIGER grants and allow States, local 
        governments, and transit agencies to prepare grant 
        applications, thus ensuring an efficient use of funds and 
        timely job creation.

SEC. 3. SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS FOR TIGER DISCRETIONARY GRANT 
              PROGRAM.

    The following sums are appropriated, out of any money in the 
Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for fiscal year 2017:

                      DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

                        Office of the Secretary

                  national infrastructure investments

    For an additional amount for ``National Infrastructure 
Investments'' in accordance with the provisions under this heading in 
title I of division K of Public Law 115-31, $7,500,000,000, to remain 
available through September 30, 2022: Provided, That the amount under 
this heading is designated by the Congress as an emergency requirement 
pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency 
Deficit Control Act of 1985, except that such amount shall be available 
only if the President subsequently so designates such amount and 
transmits such designation to the Congress.

SEC. 4. EXEMPTION FROM SEQUESTRATION.

    The appropriation in section 3 shall be exempt from sequestration 
under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.