Originally published by Ethan Duran for The Daily Reporter
Wisconsin contractors for public projects big and small saw a boon in work since President Joe Biden signed the trillion-dollar Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) in November 2021. Since then, funding has supported hundreds of state projects, ranging from roads, highways, bridges, ports, rail, and broadband with some significant transportation projects on the horizon.
In November, the White House celebrated the passage of IIJA, also called Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and touted tens of thousands of new construction projects and jobs across the U.S. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation has used IIJA money since the spring of 2022 for many small road projects and have plans for large projects such as the Blatnik Bridge replacement and Interstate 94 East-West expansion.
Since 2022, WisDOT had counted nearly $606 million in federal funding for transportation improvements, which translated into support for more than 350 projects. Meanwhile, IIJA money flowed into other parts of the state, including a $414.4 million allocation for statewide wastewater improvements through the Clean Water Fund.
Brandon Strand, director of government affairs for paving contractor Walbec Group, described WisDOT’s effort to apply for infrastructure funding and send it to contractors as a mad dash. This was “the largest increase we’ve seen since the interstate system” of the 1960s and followed three consecutive increases for the state transportation budget, he added.
Starting in 2021, the state was scheduled to receive $1.29 billion from the federal government over five years, Strand said. Construction companies have worked on nearly 900 miles of road and improved 200 bridges with federal and state support, he added. This is important as construction costs are still relatively high after the pandemic and financing becomes a larger hurdle for more contractors.
“The dollar isn’t going as far as it used to pre-pandemic or before the inflation that we’re working through. Without that backdrop of consistent state funding and federal money coming in, I think that would have been noticed a little more,” he added.
Still, the wheels for future projects keep turning; WisDOT has around 1,200 state and local highway projects scheduled throughout IIJA’s duration through 2026, Strand noted.
PUTTING PROJECTS OUT TO BID BIGGEST DELAY FOR NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENTS
Ken Simonson, the head economist for the Associated General Contractors of America, said very little of the federal money has been awarded by states, transportation departments and other agencies.
“The issues include lack of clarity, at least until recently, on how the Build America Buy America requirements apply or how and when waivers might be allowed for materials or parts you can’t get in the U.S.,” Simonson said. “Are contractors liable when it buys something from a U.S. supplier, but has no way of knowing about individual pieces they’re buying?”
There’s also uncertainty about apprenticeship and prevailing wage rules which are tied to many IIJA projects, which has affected how some Wisconsin companies might approach infrastructure funding. John Schulze, the political director of the Associated Builders and Contractors of Wisconsin, said one of the issues many of ABC’s small, non-union shops faced was due to changes to the Davis-Bacon Act which revolves around prevailing wages.
In November, both AGC and ABC filed lawsuits against the federal government over the changes to the Davis-Bacon Act and the Biden Administration’s push to expand prevailing wage across federal projects.
The rule change would return to a prevailing wage definition used from 1935 to 1983 and use the 30% rule, a previous calculation where the majority of a jobsite isn’t needed to find wage rates.
On the labor side, Wisconsin unions lauded the prevailing wage updates as an investment in the workforce and project quality.
CONSTRUCTION LOOKS FOR NEW TALENT AS INFRASTRUCTURE RAMPS UP
Projects driven by the infrastructure act have put more demand on construction labor and a significant chunk of the labor force is near retirement age. In turn, more contractors are reaching out to high schools, technical colleges, and other places to fill in the gaps.
“Workforce is always a challenge for the roadbuilding industry and construction industry as a whole. We’ve talked to colleagues and folks across the country, and I feel like it’s been seen quite a bit. I think Walbec Group does a nice job of reaching out to communities we work in. We get in front of high schoolers and look at different opportunities in the agricultural space and attract employees from those areas,” Strand said.
“One of the things that helps address that is long term sustainable transportation funding, because that results in a more sustainable program that allows contractors to prepare for what their workforce needs are,” he added.
Lindsay Blumer, president and CEO of WRTP | BIG STEP, said construction careers have been almost “pandemic-proof” as jobs rose quarter after quarter. Comparing trends from November 2021 to November 2023, there were more opportunities for people to get into construction careers, she added.
Workforce experts in the state plan to take on the heavy demand with paid training, pre-apprenticeships and apprenticeships as on-ramps to construction careers, Blumer said.
The infrastructure era also offered a chance to build a diverse labor pool as well, as Blumer noted WRTP | BIG STEP took on new demographics such as immigrants and people who were involved in the justice system.
Chris Klein, head of the Wisconsin chapter of the American Council of Engineering Companies, said WisDOT hit the ground running when federal funding was available. Like construction, Wisconsin engineering firms wanted to hire more workers, but Klein noted the state had the capacity to get the work done.
“When other state (transportation departments) were still trying to figure out how to spend this money and include it in their programs, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation was already spending money and putting it on the street,” Klein said.
“We have capacity to do the work, but each firm would like to hire more engineers. Our firms do more than transportation. Another thing we do is water infrastructure and energy,” he added.