Shant Boyajian Discusses Effect of Delayed Federal Funding on Infrastructure Projects
Shant Boyajian was quoted in The Bond Buyer article “Federal Budget Debate Threatens Infrastructure Act Funds” (subscription required). The article examines the potential impact of Congress not reaching an agreement on 2022 fiscal spending and how, with government funding “running out [In February 2022], it could spell trouble for the rollout of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).”
Commenting on the issue, Shant said, “This is a very unique and complicated bill and the situation we're in with the continuing resolution itself is uniquely complicated.” He added that a budget bottleneck could hamper state and local governments trying to plan for IIJA funds and also impede the U.S. Department of Transportation's ability to administer the IIJA.
He closed by saying, "Given the magnitude of the new funding under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the number of new programs that the law creates, there's a huge administrative burden on the DOT to actually hire new staff, to process all the additional funding and to implement the new programs…Not having a full-year appropriation bill in place that provides the appropriate amount of administrative resources to the U.S. DOT is extremely limiting to the U.S. DOT's ability to implement the new law."
