I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1428 

Making supplemental appropriations for fiscal year 2019 for the BUILD 

Discretionary Grant program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 28, 2019 

Ms. WATERS (for herself, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Ms. 

CLARKE of New York, Ms. MOORE, Mr. SIRES, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. 

GARCI ́A of Illinois, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Ms. OMAR, Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CLEAVER, Mrs. 

TORRES of California, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. MCGOVERN, 

Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. CICILLINE, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. JOHNSON of 

Texas, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. LYNCH, Ms. TLAIB, and Mrs. 

BEATTY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Appropriations, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each 

case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 

the committee concerned 

A BILL 

Making supplemental appropriations for fiscal year 2019 for 

the BUILD Discretionary Grant program, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Transportation Infra5 structure for Job Creation Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Investments in infrastructure create jobs 

4 while fulfilling critical needs in communities 

5 throughout the United States. 

6 (2) According to the Brookings Institution, 

7 nearly 14.5 million workers—11 percent of the U.S. 

8 workforce—were employed in infrastructure jobs in 

9 2013. 

10 (3) According to data from the Brookings Insti11 tution, infrastructure occupations often provide more 

12 competitive and equitable wages in comparison to all 

13 jobs nationally, consistently paying up to 30 percent 

14 more to low-income workers. 

15 (4) The American Society of Civil Engineers 

16 gave the infrastructure of the United States an over17 all grade of ‘‘D+’’ in 2017 and estimated that the 

18 United States will need to invest $4.59 trillion by 

19 2025 in order to improve the condition of the Na20 tion’s infrastructure and bring it to a state of good 

21 repair. 

22 (5) The American Society of Civil Engineers as23 signed a ‘‘D’’ grade to the Nation’s roads, a ‘‘C+’’ 

24 grade to the Nation’s bridges, and a ‘‘D¥’’ grade 

25 to the Nation’s transit systems and estimated that 

26 the United States will need to invest $2.04 trillion 


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1 by 2025 to bring the Nation’s surface transportation 

2 infrastructure to a state of good repair. 

3 (6) BUILD is a nationwide competitive grant 

4 program that creates jobs by funding investments in 

5 transportation infrastructure by States, local govern6 ments, and transit agencies. 

7 (7) BUILD is formally known as the Better 

8 Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development 

9 (BUILD) Transportation Grants program and was 

10 previously known as the Transportation Investment 

11 Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant pro12 gram. 

13 (8) BUILD funds projects that will have a sig14 nificant impact on the Nation, a metropolitan area, 

15 or a region. 

16 (9) In distributing grants under BUILD, the 

17 Secretary of Transportation is required to ensure an 

18 equitable geographic distribution of funds, a balance 

19 in addressing the needs of urban and rural areas, 

20 and investments in a variety of modes of transpor21 tation. 

22 (10) TIGER or BUILD received an appropria23 tion of $600,000,000 in fiscal year 2014, an appro24 priation of $500,000,000 in fiscal year 2015, an ap25 propriation of $500,000,000 in fiscal year 2016, an 


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1 appropriation of $500,000,000 in fiscal year 2017, 

2 and an appropriation of $1,500,000,000 in fiscal 

3 year 2018. 

4 (11) Past appropriations for TIGER and 

5 BUILD are not sufficient to address the need for in6 vestments in transportation infrastructure in com7 munities throughout the United States as the 

8 amounts only fund a small fraction of the transpor9 tation infrastructure projects for which grant appli10 cations have been received. 

11 (12) Appropriating $7.5 billion in fiscal year 

12 2019 for BUILD and allowing the funds to remain 

13 available for 6 years will enable the Secretary of 

14 Transportation to begin immediately to expand in15 vestments in transportation infrastucture throughout 

16 the United States. 

17 (13) Restricting appropriations for BUILD 

18 through the use of arbitrary budget caps or seques19 tration undermines economic recovery and job cre20 ation efforts; disrupts planning by States, local gov21 ernments, and transit agencies; and leaves critical 

22 infrastructure needs unmet. 

23 (14) Emergency supplemental appropriations 

24 for BUILD, provided in addition to other appropria25 tions and not subject to sequestration, will improve 


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1 transportation infrastructure and create jobs 

2 throughout the United States without reducing 

3 funding for other domestic priorities. 

4 (15) An emergency supplemental appropriation 

5 of $7.5 billion for BUILD to be made available in 

6 fiscal year 2019 and to remain available for 6 years 

7 will allow the Secretary of Transportation to begin 

8 immediately to organize new competitions for 

9 BUILD grants and allow States, local governments, 

10 and transit agencies to prepare grant applications, 

11 thus ensuring an efficient use of funds and timely 

12 job creation. 

13 SEC. 3. SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS FOR BUILD DIS14 CRETIONARY GRANT PROGRAM. 

15 The following sums are appropriated, out of any 

16 money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for fis17 cal year 2019: 

18 DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

19 OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

20 NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS

21 For an additional amount for ‘‘National Infrastruc22 ture Investments’’ in accordance with the provisions under 

23 this heading in title I of division K of Public Law 115– 

24 31, $7,500,000,000, to remain available through Sep25 tember 30, 2024: Provided, That the amount under this 


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1 heading is designated by the Congress as an emergency 

2 requirement pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A) of the Bal3 anced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, 

4 except that such amount shall be available only if the 

5 President subsequently so designates such amount and 

6 transmits such designation to the Congress. 

7 SEC. 4. EXEMPTION FROM SEQUESTRATION. 

8 The appropriation in section 3 shall be exempt from 

9 sequestration under the Balanced Budget and Emergency 

10 Deficit Control Act of 1985. 

Æ 


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