Infrastructure

A modern physical infrastructure is a critical driver of increased investment, job creation and overall economic growth. Business Roundtable supports policies that upgrade and expand America’s key infrastructure systems – transportation, water, energy, and communications – for the 21st century by increasing public and private investment and streamlining permitting processes.

To further advance the development of modern physical infrastructure, create jobs and promote economic growth, Business Roundtable supports bipartisan solutions like the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) signed into law in November 2021. The IIJA provides urgently needed investments to restore our transportation systems and expand capacity to reduce congestion, upgrade aging water systems, deliver broadband access and energy to more communities, and make our infrastructure more resilient against evolving threats like cyberattacks and climate change.

America's Infrastructure In Action

Explore the inner-workings of America’s infrastructure and where crucial investments are needed to repair and rebuild our economic foundation for the 21st century.

Delivering for America

Reinvesting in America's system of infrastructure will have a real impact on both families and the American economy. This report examines the state of U.S. infrastructure, where we need to go, and the economic effects of taking action on a macroeconomic and state-by-state basis.

There are several important principles for sound infrastructure policy. These include strengthening “user pays” models, unlocking the full potential of private investment, investing for maximum impact, putting smart regulation to work, accelerating innovation, and planning to maintain what is built. These principles must not only be applied to roads, bridges, public transit and rail. They must also be used to renew ports and inland waterways, aviation infrastructure, drinking and wastewater facilities, and energy infrastructure.

Access to high-speed internet is critical to participating in the economy and American society. Yet too many Americans – particularly rural communities, as well as people with lower incomes – lack access to this critical infrastructure. Business Roundtable supports legislation and policies to improve access to broadband and remote devices that would help underserved Americans engage in productive activities in the future.

Business Roundtable supports the following principles:

Improve Coverage Mapping
Increase and Modernize Federal Investments
Accelerate Deployment
Encourage Private Sector Investment

Broadband Principles

Business leaders support improving broadband access to bridge the digital divide.

Permitting and Reform

More can be done to expedite the review and permitting processes for projects that do secure funding — keeping development costs down and accelerating project delivery.

Policymakers should continue to work and incentivize private investment and expedite permitting approval processes to accelerate infrastructure development. For years, onerous permitting processes and regulations have stood in the way of infrastructure improvements American communities depend on. The Administration has taken actions to expedite review and permitting for major U.S. infrastructure projects that will help increase American competitiveness and economic growth. But there is more to be done.

The Time To Act Is Now

In May 2018, Business Roundtable Chairman Jamie Dimon, NBC's Chuck Todd and leaders in business, government and labor held a discussion on the need for infrastructure renewal and the mounting economic consequences of inaction.

"When President Kennedy said we’re going to put a man on the moon, eight years later, a man was walking on the moon. Now when someone says we’re going to build a bridge, eight years later, we’re still trying to get permits for the bridge."

Jamie Dimon

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Congress must also come up with a long-term solution to shore up federal trust funds that support highways, inland waterways and ports. America’s economy depends on it.

Reliable Funding for Infrastructure Projects

Learn more about how American taxpayers benefit from infrastructure renewal.

Backbone of a Modern Economy

Once the envy of the world, America’s highways, bridges, railways, airports, transit systems and waterways are deteriorating due to inevitable wear and tear. Stretched beyond capacity by the demands of today’s global economy and a growing population, America’s transportation infrastructure provides an opportunity for policymakers to reinvest in a critical driver of our entire economy.

Federal and state governments are responsible for committing consistent and reliable funding streams to support key infrastructure projects and to enact policies that better enable the private sector to invest in significant infrastructure initiatives.

The Latest on Infrastructure

The Time To Act On Infrastructure Is Now

Brendan Bechtel, Chairman & CEO of Bechtel, on the urgency of modernizing America’s infrastructure.

Explore the Montgomery Locks and Dam

Our nation’s inland waterway system is a critical transportation network that moves more than 575 million tons of cargo through the nation’s heartland and to coastal ports to be exported around the world.