Understanding the many facets of the historic Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (iija) can be a daunting task. For those of you in the construction industry, the implications are significant. At Inflection Point, we set out to compile the best resources for our clients and readers to help them with their business development efforts around the bill.
First, it’s important to note that this bill was signed into law in November of 2021, and funds from the bill (roughly $185 billion) have already been distributed or awarded according to the White House. As we all know, that does not mean the money has reached the construction industry, but it could mean backlog dollars in 2023 and beyond for some successful companies. Below, we offer some further summarization of the bill, as well as a litany of available resources to help you fine tune your business development efforts around the iija.
What is the iija?
The iija is a massive $1.2 trillion commitment of government funds to the modernization of our roads, bridges, transit, rail, ports, airports, broadband, and drinking water and wastewater infrastructure. Although historic in total size, those of us in the construction industry were slightly disappointed, because only about 1/3 of the funds are likely to manifest in our industry.
In an attempt to help clarify their own bill, the White House issued its own “guidebook” on the bill which you can access here: Official White House Guidebook for IIJA. The primary purpose of the guidebook is to provide a roadmap of the funding available under the law with as much detail as is currently available for all the various programs. They also provide an accompanying data file on Build.gov that allows users to quickly sort programs funded under the law by fields like agency, amount, eligible recipient, or program name.
So where are the $350 – $400 billion dollars being appropriated for the construction industry?
State by State Impact of the iija
Besides the White House’s Guidebook site, there are a number of other sites that provide additional detail around the benefits to be expected at the state level. Our personal favorite is from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Infrastructure Report Card site. They do an excellent job breaking down the iija’s real world dollar impact for each state. We strongly recommend starting your BD efforts on this site, as they also list source websites for their data at the bottom of each state page. ASCE also has a members-only resource to track open iija grants and will soon have a schedule of upcoming funding distribution cycles.
Here are some other excellent resources to help focus your BD efforts around the IIJA
Brookings
Brookings breaks down iija funding by project type and agency. The policy think tank further subdivides programs by formula or competitive status, as well as whether a program is new.
Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO)
The NOFO tracker was created by the Government Finance Officers Association to track eligible uses, applicants, grant links, and deadlines.
National Governors Association (NGA)
The NGA has a page solely committed to the implementation of iija resources. The site helps states and municipalities navigate iija programs and easily access actions and future milestones.
National Association of Counties (NACo)
NACo gets even more granular by listing open funding sources by county. Their analysis breaks down the funding by agency and topic, details its impact on various programs and laws, and even outlines all of the iija’s funding opportunities.
National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO)
As one would expect, the NASEO focuses on the energy elements of the the iija. It includes information related to the programs, policy updates, and Energy Department RFPs.
As each of you further develop your work acquisition efforts around the iija, these resources will help you narrow down where the money is headed:
- by State
- by Program
- by year of appropriation
- by project
This information will allow our customers and readers to get in front of the flow of funds and best position their organizations to financially benefit from this historic bill.