House Infrastructure Committee Advances BUILD America 250 Act

Last month’s Washington Summit also featured the first House committee vote on the big surface transportation bill. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved the BUILD America 250 Act by a May 21 vote of 62-2. The legislation authorizes $580 billion overall, including $474.4 billion in contract authority from the Highway Trust Fund (HTF)-a 23.7% increase over the IIJA’s $383.4 billion baseline.

The bill contains several NUCA-supported provisions to improve work zone safety for both workers and motorists. It gives states greater flexibility to use existing federal highway safety funds for measures such as advanced signage, traffic control devices, temporary barriers, enhanced worker training, and public education campaigns.

A full House vote is expected in June, though the Senate has not yet released its companion version.
Both chambers are unlikely to meet the September 30 deadline, so lawmakers are expected to extend the current law at least through the end of the year to avoid disruptions to ongoing surface transportation projects.