Tell Congress and President Trump to include significant construction investment for transportation, schools, hospitals, water, and broadband infrastructure in this round of COVID relief legislation. With nearly 1 million construction workers unemployed, our elected leaders must act now to help save construction jobs and sustain the industry!
Due to the unprecedented impact of the pandemic, state and local governments collectively face budget shortfalls of over $500 billion that are putting immense pressure on public agencies to delay or cancel construction projects. This comes on top of many private owners, developers, and investors—facing vast uncertainty—drastically cutting back on future construction projects.
It is essential for the construction industry to be heard loudly and clearly on Capitol Hill as bipartisan negotiations are underway on this round of COVID relief legislation. Without passing legislation that provides robust levels of infrastructure investment, the construction industry could experience substantial market reductions, threatening the viability of thousands of construction firms and jeopardizing hundreds of thousands of construction jobs.
Click the “Take Action” button below and simply submit the pre-written message as is to your members of Congress and President Trump or customize it with personal information on how this issue impacts you and your employer.
The declines in state tax collections are expected to well exceed the 11.6 percent drop experienced during the Great Recession, with some states anticipating declines of more than 20 percent. Meanwhile, 88 percent of cities expect a revenue shortfall this year. And, counties could lose $144 billion through fiscal year 2021. Similarly, devastating revenue losses in the hotel and lodging, retail and restaurant industries are leading to grim outlooks for future construction.
In response to AGC surveys, more than two-thirds (69 percent) of contractors report having a project canceled or delayed since the start of the pandemic in early March. An increasing share of respondents report that projects they expected to start in June or later this year have been canceled.
Amid these dire public and construction economic indicators, Congress and President Trump must include broad and robust infrastructure investment in the next COVID relief bill to combat the threat of more project delays, cancellations and, ultimately, construction firm closures and worker layoffs.
Taking action is easy. Simply click the “Take Action” button to submit the pre-written message as is or customize it with personal information on how this issue impacts you and your company. If you would like to forward the alert to colleagues and friends, please wait for the instructions that will be included in the confirmation email after you take action.