Publications

Infrastructure law implementation: How government funding dysfunction limits bipartisan infrastructure law implementation
- February 1, 2022: Vol. 15, Number 2

To read this full article you need to be subscribed to Institutional Investing in Infrastructure

Infrastructure law implementation: How government funding dysfunction limits bipartisan infrastructure law implementation

by Shant Boyajian

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act or “IIJA” (P.L. 117-58) passed on a bipartisan basis in both the House and Senate and was signed by President Biden one month ago today, on Nov. 15, 2021. One could have assumed that federal agencies would begin allocating the new funding and commence implementation of the IIJA as soon as it became effective. Unfortunately, that is not the case, but for reasons that may not be readily apparent.

The federal government is actually constrained in its ability to implement the IIJA because it is currently funded and operating under a continuing resolution that extends fiscal year 2021 funding authority and levels, and not a fiscal year 2022 appropriations bill. Because the federal government is operating under an extension of fiscal year 2021 funding, federal agencies do not have the administrative authority under the continuing resolution to implement new programs that did not exist in fiscal year 2021.

In practical terms, thi

Forgot your username or password?