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AGC recommends that Congress take the following actions to protect construction employer cash flows so they can pay workers and maintain operations by:
- Providing additional funding for the U.S. Small Business Association (SBA) loan programs for construction small businesses;
- Creating and robustly funding a similar program for construction businesses that do not qualify under the SBA loan programs;
- Providing time and money to contractors for losses incurred when public owners, who utilize federal funding, delay or terminate projects as a result of COVID-19-outbreak; and
- Suspending the filing of business returns and the payment of all business taxes to the federal government for the duration of the pandemic.
Congress must also ensure public construction markets have immediate-term access to additional funds to build critical infrastructure. AGC and building trades unions agree that Congress must make substantial investments in federal construction accounts and programs to ensure that essential infrastructure is maintained during this crisis. Such accounts and programs include, but are not limited to the Highway Trust Fund, Clean Water State Revolving Fund, Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, Airport Improvement Program, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Military Construction and Civil Works Programs.
Lastly, Congress must help lay the foundation for the long-term recovery of the industry and its markets. It can accomplish this by providing the industry with long-term certainty that will allow contractors to maintain and expand their workforce after the pandemic ends by enacting:
- A multi-year reauthorization of federal highway and transit programs and a multi-year reauthorization of the state clean water and drinking water state revolving funds programs;
- Long-term investments in USACE Military Construction and Civil Works Programs; and
- Long-term investments in social infrastructure (e.g., hospitals, medical clinics, and emergency facilities), among other things.
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