House Subcommittee on Highways and Transit Holds Hearing on Workforce Development

On Wednesday, April 27, 2022, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s Subcommittee on Highways and Transit held a hearing titled ‘Examining Workforce Development and Job Creation in Surface Transportation Construction.’ The purpose of the hearing was to ascertain how recent investments, in particular the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) will increase the need for a skilled workforce to rebuild and modernize our nation’s transportation infrastructure.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), passed and signed into law last year, authorizes more than $660 billion for roads, transit, railroads, bridges, and other transportation infrastructure. These dollars – provided over five years – will require a skilled and updated workforce to ensure that the promise of IIJA is realized. Witnesses included two state departments of transportation executive directors, as well as union and trade representatives. Of particular interest to the subcommittee members and witnesses was the authority known as ‘local hire,’ authorized by IIJA, which allows state and local transportation agencies to require that a certain percentage of the workforce hired to construct federally – funded transportation projects come from the local community in which those projects are undertaken.

Members of the subcommittee, in bipartisan fashion, spoke of the need to ensure that job creation opportunities are available to as many people as possible and that programs aimed at assisting entry into the construction sector, such as the Department of Transportation’s On – the – Job Training and Supportive Services Program, continue to receive the funding and support they need to be effective.

You may click here to watch a recording of the hearing. Contact APWA Government Affairs Associate Jeff Finegan at jfinegan@apwa.net or (202) 218 -6728 if you have questions.