Today, Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Government Operations, released the following statement after the House passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, formally sending the legislation to President Biden for his signature.
“Here in Virginia, we have 577 bridges and over 2,124 miles of highway in poor condition and in need of repair. 473,000 Virginians lack access to reliable broadband. And extreme weather events have cost Virginia families up to $10 billion in damages over the last decade. We can wait no longer for meaningful, sustainable investment in our infrastructure. The bipartisan legislation we passed today is an historic achievement that will transform lives across the Commonwealth and fortify our fight against climate change across the country. I am particularly proud that provisions of my legislation to reauthorize federal funding for Metro were included in the final bill for President Biden to sign into law. This is what it means to Build Back Better.”
The $1.2 Trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is a comprehensive infrastructure package that delivers wins to communities across Virginia and the nation to maintain roads, bridges, rail systems, and other critical infrastructure needs. In total, the deal includes $550 billion in new federal investment in America’s infrastructure and will add, on average, around 2 million jobs per year over the course of the decade.
Major provisions that will benefit Virginia include:
Roads, Bridges, and Major Projects:
- $110 billion to repair and rebuild our roads and bridges with a focus on equity, safety for all users, including cyclists and pedestrians, and first of its kind attention to climate change mitigation and resilience. This includes:
- $40 billion for bridge repair, replacement, and rehabilitation, which is the single largest dedicated bridge investment since the construction of the interstate highway system.
- $7 billion for Virginia highways and $537 million for Virginia bridge replacement and repairs over five years.
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Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) and Public Transit:
- Reauthorizes federal funding for WMATA through fiscal year 2030 at current annual levels.
- An estimated $1.2 billion over five years to improve public transportation in Virginia.
- $39 billion over five years for public transit systems across the nation.
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Rail:
- $66 billion in passenger rail to upgrade speed, accessibility, efficiency, and resilience, including $22 billion in grants to Amtrak, $24 billion as federal-state partnership grants for Northeast Corridor modernization, $12 billion for partnership grants for intercity rail service including high-speed rail, $5 billion for rail improvement and safety grants, and $3 billion for grade crossing safety improvements.
- These dollars will help Virginia fund current projects announced with CSX, Norfolk Southern, Amtrak, and VRE — such as the $1.9 billion Long Bridge project.
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Broadband:
- $65 billion for broadband deployment to increase access and decrease costs associated with connecting to the internet.
- Virginia will receive a minimum allocation of $100 million to expand broadband across the Commonwealth, including providing access to the at least 473,000 Virginians who currently lack it.
- 1,908,000 or 23% of people in Virginia will be eligible for the Affordability Connectivity Benefit, which will help low-income families afford internet access.
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Resilience:
- $47 billion for climate resilience measures that will help our communities weather increasingly severe storms, droughts, floods, fires, heat waves, and sea level rise, including funding for FEMA flood mitigation grants, making infrastructure investments to increase coastal resilience, and improving mapping and data so that households and businesses can better protect themselves from future flood events.
- $238 million for the Chesapeake Bay Program for ecosystem resiliency and restoration.
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Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging:
- $7.5 billion to build electric vehicle charging stations across the country along highway corridors to facilitate long-distance travel and within communities to provide convenient charging where people live, work, and shop.
- $2.5 billion for electric, zero-emission school buses.
- An estimated $106 million for Virginia over five years to support the expansion of an EV charging network in the Commonwealth. Virginia will also have the opportunity to apply for the $2.5 billion in grant funding dedicated to EV charging in the bill.
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