Welcome! We’re so glad you want to be a part of this alliance to ensure that the infrastructure plan implementation equally benefits minority communities and companies in Georgia.
The bottom line: The point of what’s presented here is to identify the priorities of the infrastructure plan so that companies can determine whether they have the capabilities to do the work needed to be done. The final figures may look different, but the general goals should remain the same.
Let’s dive in.
One Big Thing: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework
Roads, Bridges, and Major Projects
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal will invest $110 billion of new funds for roads, bridges, and major projects, and reauthorize the surface transportation program for the next five years building on bipartisan surface transportation reauthorization bills passed out of committee earlier this year. This investment will repair and rebuild our roads and bridges with a focus on climate change mitigation, resilience, equity, and safety for all users, including cyclists and pedestrians. The bill includes a total of $40 billion of new funding for bridge repair, replacement, and rehabilitation.
Why it matters: This is the single largest dedicated bridge investment since the construction of the interstate highway system.
Safety
The deal invests $11 billion in transportation safety programs, including a new Safe Streets for All program to help states and localities reduce crashes and fatalities in their communities, especially for cyclists and pedestrians.
Why it matters: This will more than double funding directed to programs that improve the safety of people and vehicles in our transportation system, including highway safety, truck safety, and pipeline and hazardous materials safety.
Public Transit
The deal invests $39 billion of new investment to modernize transit, and improve accessibility for the elderly and people with disabilities, in addition to continuing the existing transit programs for five years as part of surface transportation reauthorization. It will repair and upgrade aging infrastructure, modernize bus and rail fleets, make stations accessible to all users, and bring transit service to new communities. It will replace thousands of transit vehicles, including buses, with clean, zero emission vehicles.
Why it matters: It will benefit communities of color since these households are twice as likely to take public transportation and many of these communities lack sufficient public transit options.
EV Infrastructure
The bill invests $7.5 billion to build out a national network of EV chargers. The bill will provide funding for deployment of EV chargers along highway corridors to facilitate long-distance travel and within communities to provide convenient charging where people live, work, and shop.
Why it matters: Federal funding will have a particular focus on rural, disadvantaged, and hard-to-reach communities.
Electric Buses
The deal will deliver thousands of electric school buses nationwide, including in rural communities, helping school districts across the country buy clean, American-made, zero emission buses, and replace the yellow school bus fleet for America’s children. The deal invests $2.5 billion in zero emission buses, $2.5 billion in low emission buses, and $2.5 billion for ferries.
Why it matters: These investments will drive demand for American-made batteries and vehicles, creating jobs and supporting domestic manufacturing, while also removing diesel buses from some of our most vulnerable communities.
Reconnecting Communities
Too often, past transportation investments divided communities – like the Claiborne Expressway in New Orleans or I-81 in Syracuse – or it left out the people most in need of affordable transportation options. In particular, significant portions of the interstate highway system were built through Black neighborhoods. The program will fund planning, design, demolition, and reconstruction of street grids, parks, or other infrastructure through $1 billion of dedicated funding.
Why it matters: The deal creates a first-ever program to reconnect communities divided by transportation infrastructure.
Airports, Ports, and Waterways
The bill invests $17 billion in port infrastructure and $25 billion in airports to address repair and maintenance backlogs, reduce congestion and emissions near ports and airports, and drive electrification and other low-carbon technologies.
Why it matters:
Resilience and Western Water Infrastructure
Includes funds to protect against droughts and floods, in addition to a major investment in weatherization. People of color are more likely to live in areas most vulnerable to flooding and other climate change-related weather events.
Why it matters: The deal makes our communities safer and our infrastructure more resilient to the impacts of climate change and cyber attacks, with an investment of over $50 billion.
High-Speed Internet
The deal is a historic investment in broadband infrastructure deployment, just as the federal government made a historic effort to provide electricity to every American nearly 100 years ago. It will also help close the digital divide by passing the Digital Equity Act, ending digital redlining, and creating a permanent program to help more low-income households access the internet.
Why it matters: This $65 billion investment ensures every American has access to reliable high-speed internet.
Environmental Remediation
The deal invests $21 billion in environmental remediation, creating good-paying union jobs in hard-hit energy communities. The bill includes funds to clean up superfund and brownfield sites, reclaim abandoned mine land and cap orphaned gas wells.
Why it matters: This largest ever historic investment addresses legacy pollution that harms the public health of communities and advances economic and environmental justice.
Power Infrastructure
The deal upgrades our power infrastructure, building thousands of miles of new, resilient transmission lines to facilitate the expansion of renewable energy. It creates a new Grid Deployment Authority, invests in research and development for advanced transmission and electricity distribution technologies, and promotes smart grid technologies that deliver flexibility and resilience. It invests in demonstration projects and research hubs for next generation technologies like advanced nuclear reactors, carbon capture, and clean hydrogen.
Why it matters: This $73 billion investment is the single largest investment in clean energy transmission in American history.
State and Local Implementation Spotlight
Our thought bubble: This is a glimpse into how implementation of the infrastructure plan is going to help on the local level in Georgia. To know the players and organizations is to understand how the funding will flow in Georgia.
Governor Kemp has provided a glimpse into how funding from the American Jobs Plan (the infrastructure bill) will be handled when he appointed committees to handle implementation of the American Rescue Plan (the COVID-19 relief bill). The focus on infrastructure is apparent considering that two of the committees are solely focused on different aspects of it.
Why it matters: The work of these committees will most likely continue with the implementation of the infrastructure bill, so these members and their organizations will remain relevant.
Economic Impact Committee
Alex Atwood, commissioner, Georgia Department of Administrative Services
Gerlda Hines, commissioner, Georgia Department of Human Resources
Pat Wilson, commissioner, Georgia Department of Economic Development
Jeffrey Dorfman, state economist and University of Georgia professor
Robyn Crittenden, commissioner, Georgia Department of Revenue
Tim Lowrimore, state forester
Brian Marlowe, deputy commissioner for rural Georgia
House Appropriations Chairman Terry England, R-Auburn
Senate Appropriations Chairman Blake Tillery, R-Vidalia
House Ways and Means Chairman Shaw Blackmon, R-Bonaire
Rep. Calvin Smyre, D-Columbus
Rep. Josh Bonner, R-Fayetteville
Rep. John LaHood, R-Valdosta
Sen. Clint Dixon, R-BufordSen. Emanuel Jones, D-Ellenwood
Senate Finance Chairman Chuck Hufstetler, R-Rome
Broadband Infrastructure Committee
Russell McMurry, transportation commissioner
Jannine Miller, transportation planning director
Christopher Nunn, commissioner, Department of Community Affairs
Teresa MacCartney, interim chancellor, University System of Georgia
Greg Dozier, technical college system commissioner
Shawnzia Thomas, executive director, Georgia Technology Authority
Richard Woods, state school superintendent
Eric Toler, executive director, Georgia Cyber Center
Michael Nix, executive director, Georgia Emergency Communications Authority
Frank Smith, deputy executive director, State Properties Commission
House Appropriations Chairman Terry England, R-Auburn
Senate Appropriations Chairman Blake Tillery, R-Vidalia
Rep. Clay Pirkle, R-AshburnRep. Patty Bentley, D-Butler
Rep. Jodi Lott, R-EvansSen. Bo Hatchett, R-Cornelia
Sen. Harold Jones, D-Augusta
Senate Majority Whip Steve Gooch, R-Dahlonega
Water and Sewer Infrastructure Committee
Chris Carr, attorney general
David Dove, executive counsel to Kemp
Mark Williams, commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources
Rick Dunn, director of the Environmental Protection Division
Kevin Clark, executive director, Georgia Environmental Finance Authority
John Eunice, deputy director, EPD
Andrew Pinson, Georgia solicitor general
James Capp, watershed protection branch chief, EPD
Wei Zeng, water protection program manager, EPD
House Appropriations Chairman Terry England, R-Auburn
Senate Appropriations Chairman Blake Tillery, R-Vidalia
Rep. Dominic LaRiccia, R-Douglas
House Agriculture Chairman Robert Dickey, R-Musella
Sen. Russ Goodman, R-Cogdell
Senate Agriculture Chairman Larry Walker, R-Perry
Sen. Freddie Powell Sims, D-Dawson
Federal Implementation Spotlight
Build America Bureau – U.S. Department of Transportation
Our thought bubble: Understanding which offices and programs will oversee the implementation of the infrastructure bill puts stakeholders in a better position to take advantage of opportunities that will arise.
The Build America Bureau (the “Bureau”) is responsible for driving transportation infrastructure development projects in the United States. The Bureau streamlines credit opportunities and grants and provides access to the credit and grant programs with more speed and transparency, while also providing technical assistance and encouraging innovative best practices in project planning, financing, delivery, and monitoring. To achieve this vision, the Bureau draws upon the full resources of the U.S. Department of Transportation to best utilize the expertise of all the modes within the Department while promoting a culture of innovation and customer service.
There are three core components of the new Bureau:
- An Outreach and Project Development team, that will continue the Bureau work to educate project sponsors about how they can best combine DOT credit, funding programs, and innovative project delivery approaches such as public-private partnerships (P3), and then offer project-level technical assistance to get them ready to pursue it.
- A Credit Programs team that encompasses the TIFIA, RRIF, and PABs programs. See the following links for more information about each of the credit program components:
– TIFIA (Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act)
– RRIF (Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing
– PABs (Private Activity Bonds) - The Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) Grant Program team, which will administer the application process for INFRA grants. See Infrastructure For Rebuilding America for more information about this program.
- The Georgia Ports Authority was recently awarded $46,868,000 through the INFRA Grant Program to build a new inland container port along the I-85/I-985 corridor in an unincorporated area of Gainesville, which will be linked with the Port of Savannah by direct, 324-mile intermodal freight rail service.
The GMI Alliance, an initiative of Ohio River South, is a consortium of minority and majority-owned infrastructure companies and service providers working to position Georgia and themselves for federal infrastructure funding to complete critical projects. Together, we plan to bring increased attention to Georgia’s leading role in the nation’s economy by highlighting our diverse business environment as a strategic advantage.