All Eyes On 9/27 Bipartisan Infrastructure Vote

September 28, 2021

Politics is more difficult than physics.

-Albert Einstein

Members of Congress are officially back in Washington, D.C., and they’re charging towards the cliff at the end of September when the present Federal fiscal year ends. Regarding infrastructure, all eyes are on the major votes coming up, including the September 27 House vote on the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework (BIF/IIJA). Progress continues to be made with the reconciliation funding bill.

The various House committees that were responsible for drafting detailed spending and areas of new revenue (or reductions in previous spending commitments) have completed their work, which is now being compiled into a single legislation, while the politics continue to make accommodations for the variety of stakeholders that must come together. While originally there had been commitments to have the final version aligned with the September 27 vote, a more prolonged period is likely until a vote is reached on the matter.

While significant changes are bound to occur, the following are several of the attractive spending areas in the draft from the House Committee on Energy & Commerce (links to the text are at the bottom). Markup of the Build Back Better Act, Full Committee (September 13, 2021) | Democrats, Energy and Commerce Committee (house.gov)

• Critical Facility Modernization - $3.2B for “public of nonprofit buildings” defined in a specific list
• Assistance for Latest and Zero Building Energy Code Adoption - $300M
• Federal Energy Efficiency Fund - $17.5B for meeting federal building energy efficiency requirements
• Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants - $5B