Transportation Infrastructure for Job Creation Act

Making supplemental appropriations for fiscal year 2019 for the BUILD Discretionary Grant program, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Transportation Infrastructure for Job Creation Act 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. (4) The American Society of Civil Engineers gave the infrastructure of the United States an overall grade of D+ (5) The American Society of Civil Engineers assigned a D C+ D− (6) BUILD is a nationwide competitive grant program that creates jobs by funding investments in transportation infrastructure by States, local governments, and transit agencies. (7) BUILD is formally known as the Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) Transportation Grants program and was previously known as the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program. (8) BUILD funds projects that will have a significant impact on the Nation, a metropolitan area, or a region. (9) In distributing grants under BUILD, 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. (10) TIGER or BUILD received an appropriation of $600,000,000 in fiscal year 2014, an appropriation of $500,000,000 in fiscal year 2015, an appropriation of $500,000,000 in fiscal year 2016, an appropriation of $500,000,000 in fiscal year 2017, and an appropriation of $1,500,000,000 in fiscal year 2018. (11) Past appropriations for TIGER and BUILD 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 grant applications have been received. (12) Appropriating $7.5 billion in fiscal year 2019 for BUILD 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. (13) Restricting appropriations for BUILD 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. (14) Emergency supplemental appropriations for BUILD, 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. (15) An emergency supplemental appropriation of $7.5 billion for BUILD to be made available in fiscal year 2019 and to remain available for 6 years will allow the Secretary of Transportation to begin immediately to organize new competitions for BUILD grants and allow States, local governments, and transit agencies to prepare grant applications, thus ensuring an efficient use of funds and timely job creation. 3. Supplemental appropriations for BUILD discretionary grant program The following sums are appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for fiscal year 2019: Department of Transportation Office of the Secretary National Infrastructure Investments For an additional amount for National Infrastructure Investments Public Law 115–31 Provided 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.

Summary: Transportation Infrastructure for Job Creation Act This bill provides $7.5 billion in supplemental FY2019 appropriations to the Department of Transportation to remain available through FY2024 for national infrastructure investments under a competitive grant program known as the Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) Transportation Grants 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.)