From May 16 to 18, 2023, NGA hosted its Quarterly Infrastructure Coordinator Workshop in Washington D.C. With $37 billion in funding for resilience programs in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and another $5 billion in the Inflation Reduction Act, the theme of the Workshop was “building resilient infrastructure”. The meeting also coincided with Infrastructure Week in Washington D.C., which featured a range of events and activities highlighting key achievements since the enactment of the IIJA and future challenges and opportunities.
On May 16, Governors’ Infrastructure Coordinators/Advisors were invited to the White House for an afternoon of meetings hosted by the White House Infrastructure Implementation Team. The event commenced with welcome remarks from Senior Advisor to the President and White House Infrastructure Coordinator Mayor Mitch Landrieu who highlighted progress made so far in implementing the IIJA and the critical importance of ensuring an efficient roll-out of funds for future generations. The White House team subsequently provided an overview of impacts to date and a sector-by-sector update on achievements and upcoming opportunities. The afternoon concluded with several agency specific presentations and a reception.
The May 17 agenda, held at Georgetown Law Center, comprised a day of programming focused on the workshop theme of infrastructure resilience. During the morning, Infrastructure Coordinators heard from federal government leaders, including from the U.S. Department of Transportation, the White House Council on Environmental Quality, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Grid Deployment Office with the U.S. Department of Energy.
Speakers discussed specific IIJA and IRA resilience programs that they are implementing in partnership with states and territories, such as the Department of Energy’s grid resilience program and the Department of Transportation’s PROTECT program. Speakers underlined the importance of imbuing resilience into all infrastructure projects being implemented by states and territories. During the afternoon sessions, states and territories heard from a panel on the role of green/infrastructure banks in supporting infrastructure resiliency efforts, a panel on innovative approaches at the local level in Maryland and speakers on leveraging the private sector to help firm up infrastructure in the face of more extreme weather events.
The final morning of programming on May 18 commenced with an open house breakfast held at the NGA offices to bring together Governors’ Infrastructure Coordinators and federal agency infrastructure coordinators and leaders. This session provided an opportunity for infrastructure coordinators to discuss challenges and opportunities and share priorities with their federal counterparts. The event wrapped up with a closed-door infrastructure coordinator-only meeting where Governors’ staff raised critical issues and suggested ways that the NGA can support their efforts.
NGA would like to thank the representatives from 30-plus states and territories who made their way to Washington, D.C., the White House, federal agency infrastructure coordinators and staff, and Georgetown Law Center for making the gathering such a success.
Additional Resources
NGA maintains public implementation resources pages for the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act, which can be accessed here. These resource pages are updated weekly to provide the latest federal updates, including notices of funding opportunities, requests for information and guidelines, and the latest association and NGA Partner resources.
