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Senate EPW hearing finds IIJA formula funding widely used but implementation slowed by costs, permitting and grant delays
Summary
Witnesses told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee that the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act has provided vital formula funding for states but faces implementation headwinds from inflation-driven cost increases, slow discretionary grant deployment, permitting delays and Buy America complications.
Senate Environment and Public Works Committee members and witnesses reviewed progress implementing the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and identified clear benefits from formula funding while flagging several implementation challenges.
The hearing opened with Chair Capito welcoming witnesses and framing the committee's oversight of IIJA implementation. Ranking Member Whitehouse and witnesses from state departments of transportation, contractors and city transportation officials said formula programs have delivered reliable funding but that rising costs and administrative obstacles are slowing project delivery.
AASHTO representative Russell McMurray, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Transportation, testified that core formula programs have been “vital” and provide the multi-year funding certainty states use for planning and delivering projects. “The IIJA's federal surface transportation funding has absolutely been vital to every state DOT to safely move people and goods,” McMurray said, citing Georgia’s reliance on formula dollars for…
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