The State of the Union is a time-honored tradition in the United States with political wonks anticipating the speech in a way some may view the Oscars or the Super Bowl. For years, the State of the Union speeches contained little to no reference to infrastructure. As we move into the second full year of funding, the bi-partisan IIJA was highlighted with promises that lawmakers are just getting started to live up to their funding commitment to help rebuild our nation’s infrastructure. Here’s what the President said:

And folks, as you all know, we used to be No. 1 in the world in infrastructure. We’ve sunk to 13th in the world. The United States of America — 13th in the world in infrastructure, modern infrastructure.

But now we’re coming back because we came together and passed the bipartisan infrastructure law, the largest investment in infrastructure since President Eisenhower’s Interstate Highway System.

And folks, already, we’ve funded over 20,000 projects, including major airports from Boston to Atlanta to Portland.

Projects that are going to put thousands of people to work rebuilding our highways, our bridges, our railroads, our tunnels, ports, airports, clean water, high-speed internet all across America. Urban, rural, tribal.

And folks, we’re just getting started. We’re just getting started. And I mean it sincerely. I want to thank my Republican friends who voted for the law.

The funding is coming to the states in part through grants. A list of grants can be found here. ACPA is working with our Chapter State Executives (CSE) to help message to DOTs about funding opportunities. Also, connected to infrastructure priorities coming from the White House is the urge to prioritize sustainability. As we announced a few weeks ago, ACPA released its White Paper on Sustainability making some important connections for the public and decisionmakers on the role of resiliency in sustainability as we underscore the importance of concrete paving in addressing our global climate concerns. Concrete paving has a good story to tell…let’s make sure we are telling it.

ACPA is also hard at work trying to secure funding for continued paving research. As Congress looks to eye FAA reauthorization, ACPA is ensuring lawmakers understand the importance of approving important funding that helps support the hard work of the CP Tech Center.

Speaking of Iowa, the ACPA staff and the CSEs are in full swing participating in workshops across the country. IA, NY, WI, and SD…we too are just getting warmed up.

Check out the stories below on new resources available from ACPA and new grants, and have a great week!

Cheers,
Laura