I hate the phrase “ear worm.” It creates a disgusting mental picture, although it’s accurate in describing a song that’s stuck in your head. I can’t get rid of it until I actually hear the song. It’s rare when I get an ear worm, although there’s the “infrastructure song” that’s been playing over and over in my head for years, and now it seems like someone is queueing up the music to actually be played.
The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works recently introduced America’s Transportation Infrastructure Act (ATIA). The Act would provide $287 billion over five years: it would increase the Technology and Innovation Deployment Program and it would expand the National Highway Freight Program.
The $287 billion is a 27% increase over the current law, Fixing America’s Surface Transportation.
Reaction to the proposed legislation came quickly from the president of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, Dennis Slater.
“We applaud the work of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works in introducing a bipartisan surface transportation reauthorization bill and moving that bill through Committee with unanimous approval,” said Dennis Slater, president of AEM. “The America’s Transportation Infrastructure Act (ATIA) will provide the resources necessary to maintain and improve our nation’s surface transportation assets. That is good for equipment manufacturers and communities across the country. Our industry depends on the strength of our nation’s infrastructure to transport the equipment we make across the country and around the world. That same equipment is also critical in the construction and maintenance of nearly all aspects of our nation’s infrastructure network. While this is a step in the right direction, we will continue to work with members of Congress on both sides of the aisle to secure a comprehensive infrastructure package that provides adequate, sustainable, long-term funding to modernize and improve our nation’s entire infrastructure portfolio.”
The bill still has a long way to go, even if it is bipartisan. But it would be nice to finally be able to hear that infrastructure song being played. Countless construction companies would prosper and I would finally be able to get rid of this ear worm.
