October 7, 2020

The President signed a continuing resolution early Thursday morning, October 1, to fund government agencies through December 11. 

This temporary stop-gap measure also extends the current highway bill, the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, through the next fiscal year (September 30, 2021) and provides a $13.6 billion infusion from the general fund to the Highway Trust Fund to stave off insolvency. $10.4 billion of that relief will go the trust fund’s highway account while transit will receive $3.2 billion

While avoiding a government shutdown and extending the highway bill are necessary to keep our industry afloat, this certainly does not provide the long-term, robustly funded transportation bill that AISC and its bridge division, the National Steel Bridge Alliance (NSBA), have continuously fought for.

It's important to realize that even though the federal highway contract authority has been extended a full year, this continuing resolution limits highway obligation authority through December 30. This means that there will only be 72 days worth of that funding available through the rest of the year unless Congress can pass a full appropriations bill by the deadline.

AISC and NSBA have been tirelessly advocating for our industry, urging members of Congress to pass a highway bill, maintain and strengthen Buy America requirements, and also provide relief for state DOTs that have been suffering from budget shortfalls due to COVID-19-related economic issues. For an overview of the steel bridge industry, transportation advocacy priorities and activities, visit aisc.org/nsba/transportation.