Impacts from COVID-19 on Government Affairs – An Update from Government Affairs & Professional Practice Committee Chair AnaCristina Fragoso

The BSCES Government Affairs & Professional Practice (GA&PP) Committee recently held meetings in August and September to look at the state of affairs both in the State and Federally around legislative issues concerning transportation and infrastructure. Due to the pandemic, this year has been extremely odd and has led to lack of movement with any legislation, both locally and federally, with many bills sitting in the House since March. There is now a sense of urgency to review these bills due to the postponement of many projects created by the virus and also the fact that this is an election year. In the August meeting, the GA&PP Committee, along with BSCES president, Bruce Jacobs, discussed 2020 being a good time to recruit among our members and various initiatives we could use including this monthly newsletter; if you would like to join the Government Affairs & Professional Practice committee, please contact AnaCristina Fragoso at ac.fragoso@wsp.com.

While there has been little legislative movement since Congress ended in September and MA legislation wrapped up in July of this year, the GA&PP committee discussed updates as they stood in our September meeting. Committee members are encouraged to volunteer to help track some of the bills since there are quite a few expected to be re-introduced in January with similar language. The bills span many topics of interest, including airports, codes, climate change, dams, energy, flood control, hazard mitigation, infrastructure funding, licensure and practice, parks and recreation, ports and waterways, and more.

We were also fortunate in August to have two of the ASCE Government Affairs representatives, Caroline Sevier and Maria Matthews, give the GA&PP Committee an update on COVID-19 relief negotiations that are currently stalled. Caroline and Maria provided an insight into the various ASCE tools and some of the very good training programs ASCE offers to all its members, of which the GA&PP Committee is planning to bring to the local area soon.

ASCE continues to lobby for federal infrastructure bills; however, state departments of transportation have not yet received COVID-19 relief funding for transit agencies, both from the CARES Act, or from the Airport Improvement Program. Generally, there is a belief that the Fast Act that ended in September will be extended, however, that has also been temporarily stalled. Also uncertain is the Water Resources Development Act, although post-election predictions lead us to expect that it will be brought up in the “lame duck” session after November. The voices of engineers and scientists are not expected to be as prominent as in the past.

In the past, the GA&PP Committee has held a Fall workshop, spear-headed by David Westerling, in conjunction with the BSCES Construction Institute, Geo-Institute, and the Transportation and Development Institute. The workshop will likely be postponed to early 2021 and will continue with the theme of “Innovative Infrastructure Funding and Financing.” We hope to keep you informed as the months progress with this newsletter.

We would also like to begin using the BSCES monthly newsletters to highlight certain bills that we hope to see re-introduced with a new legislative term starting in January. The articles will dive-into specific topics and will include links for anyone is interested to click on in the next upcoming months, so please be on the lookout for these monthly updates.

Although we still don’t expect to see a lot of movement until a vaccine is developed and distributed, or until COVID-19 risks are significantly reduced, it is expected that government officials will focus on infrastructure as an economic tool to reinvigorate the economy. This follows with past economic recoveries, and we expect quick movement when it starts. There is also a general growing excitement about seeing focus on creating more sustainable infrastructure and transportation moving forward.

For now, check out the following links from ASCE for action items and additional information: Infrastructure Investment Must Be a Key Component of Emergency Relief and Support State DOT Revenue Needs Amid COVID-19 Pandemic.