Congress met the March 11 deadline and passed a full fiscal year 2022 funding package and President Biden signed it into law.

This legislation sets new spending levels for the year after multiple continuations of funding at prior year levels. It is an important step because new and increased funding for construction programs included in the November-passed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) will finally be released to state and local governments.

The legislation also includes an additional $3.5 billion for transportation, on top of the authorized levels in the IIJA. A large chunk of that spending, $1.5B, is for earmarks, or congressionally directed spending as it has been rebranded, for the first time in over a decade. For those that do not remember, this is funding dedicated to local infrastructure projects chosen by the member representing that area. In addition, there is an extra $1.1B for bridge repair. This is on top of the money included in the IIJA that was dedicated for states to rehabilitate bridges.

For more information, contact Alex Etchen at [email protected].