Harrisburg – Gene Barr, President and CEO of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, issued the following statement regarding the passage of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives:
“A modern and efficient system of infrastructure is vital to recovering from the pandemic and to positioning Pennsylvania for greater investment and quality of opportunity for all of our residents. We applaud the bipartisan support for this important legislation, which, once signed into law, will result in streamlining permits for critical projects, as well as expanded federal funds for Pennsylvania to modernize its airports, ports, roads and railways, as well as expand access to broadband.
“A key component of the PA Chamber’s Bringing PA Back initiative is investing in infrastructure, which is need to ensure and efficient and reliable transportation network. Currently, 15 percent of the state – mostly in rural areas – lacks access to broadband. Furthermore, over 7,500 miles of public highways across the Commonwealth are in poor condition and many of our bridges are structurally deficient, impacting how we do business in the Commonwealth.”
“Importantly, this legislation is paid for by repurposing unused federal funds from other programs. The legislation is also a testament to the merits of bipartisan negotiations in order to solve pressing challenges. We are also pleased that this legislation moved separately from the massively irresponsible, multi-trillion, partisan reconciliation bill that contains a host of policy initiatives that would be detrimental to the long-term vitality of our state and national economy.”