Infrastructure bills are taking shape on Capitol Hill and could be headed for a vote this summer, which makes participation in this year’s AFS Fly-In in June as important as ever.

Every U.S. foundry and supplier is encouraged to send at least one employee to participate in this important Fly-In. With 100 new lawmakers and hundreds of new congressional staff, it’s time to stand together as an industry. The Fly-In attendees will hear from policy experts, then band together for meetings with lawmakers, calling for commonsense policies including infrastructure investment, workforce readiness programs, and more.

Political strategist Karl Rove, former senior adviser and deputy chief of staff for President George W. Bush, will be the keynote luncheon speaker on Tuesday, June 11. During his keynote speech, “Key Political Issues of the Day & Countdown to the 2020 Elections,” Rove will share his experiences in the political sphere, discuss the current landscape and explain why delivering tough messages with clear, concise certainty is key when trying to make political leaders take notice.

For more information, visit www.afsinc.org/conferences/2019-government-affairs-fly.

As for the investment package, AFS has already weighed in as part of the Infrastructure Working Group. The group, composed of 150 trade associations, showed a united front in February to urge Congress to take up and pass a bipartisan infrastructure bill that will improve the safety, reliability and efficiency of our nation’s infrastructure.

House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee chairman, Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Oregon) said he expects the House to introduce and pass an infrastructure bill this summer. Key provisions in DeFazio’s plan would provide $500 billion for surface transportation over 13 years, raised by issuing a new 30-year treasury bond repaid by increasing federal gasoline and diesel taxes by indexing them to inflation, and he hopes the Republican-majority Senate will act quick on the package.

Several bills have been introduced that seek investment in building infrastructure (e.g., public schools, public housing, hospitals, etc.). The House Education and Labor Committee already had a hearing on Rebuild America’s Schools Act of 2019 (HR 865) which has garnered 161 cosponsors and will likely be voted on in committee in March.      

Click here to see this story as it appears in the March 2019 issue of Modern Casting