Government Affairs Report – December 31, 2021

Happy Holidays!

2021 brought tremendous yuletide cheer, not only was there an infrastructure week, but multiple infrastructure bills.  And, may our hearts be still, one of them actually passed!

The following bifurcation from the controversial “Build Back Better Act,” the hard infrastructure bill was signed on November 15, and is 2,700 pages in length.  Generally, the bill appropriates $1.2T, $550B of which is new spending, to traditional infrastructure projects over the next five years.

The categories of federal spending are, generally, as follows:

  • Roads and bridges ($110B)
  • Public transit ($39B)
  • Railways ($66B)
  • Power Grids ($73B)
  • EV’s ($7.5B)
  • Electric busses and ferries ($7.5B)
  • Airports & Waterways ($42B)
  • Resilience and Climate Change ($50B)
  • Drinking Water ($55B)
  • Environmental ($21B)
  • Broadband ($65B)
  • Transportation Safety ($21B)

Some of this spending goes to federal agencies to fund existing programs or, in some cases, mandates agency rulemaking to create programs. For instance, the bill makes direct, supplemental appropriations to several federal agencies:

  • U.S. Department of Agriculture
  • U.S. Department of Commerce
  • U.S. Department of Energy
  • U.S. Department of Homeland Security
  • U.S. Department of the Interior
  • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
  • U.S. Department of Transportation

Some of the spending goes directly to states for the same purposes – fund existing programs/projects or requires the establishment of same.  As you know, the Nevada Legislature is not in session, so in many (if not most) cases, the statutory framework to manage the appropriation of these funds may not be in place.  This will happen either in the Interim Finance Committee or in 2023.

With respect to funds to be received by Nevada, the overall economic impact is estimated at ~$4 billion, and the White House analysis notes the following categories and spending over five years:

  • Roads ($2.5B)
  • Bridges ($225M)
  • Public Transportation ($459M)
  • EV ($38M, and can apply for up to $2.5B in grant funding)
  • Broadband ($100M)
  • Climate Change ($8.6M)
  • Cyber Attacks ($12M)
  • Drinking Water ($403M)
  • Airports ($293M)

The White House also notes additional economic impact data is coming and will be updated.

State and local elected officials are already issuing press releases regarding spending of the funds, however, as noted, the funds have generally not yet been appropriated, and in many cases, the programs which will be funded with this money aren’t yet in place.  This will happen shortly, likely over the next several months.

We wish all of you a safe and restful holiday season and look forward to a very successful 2022!

Jon & Kerrie

 

Jonathan Leleu, Lobbyist/Attorney
jleleu@argentumnv.com

Kerrie Kramer, Lobbyist
kerrie@argentumnv.com

Argentum Partners
(702) 692-8037

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