Business Groups Push $474.4 Billion Highway Bill in Letter to Speaker Johnson

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and hundreds of local business groups are pressing House Speaker Mike Johnson to bring a $474.4 billion surface transportation bill to the floor. In a coalition letter, the signatories urge priority passage of H.R. 8870, the Building Unrivaled Infrastructure and Long-term Development for America's 250th Act (BUILD America 250 Act).

The bill carries broad, bipartisan support, the letter states, for its investments in the nation's surface transportation network — what the signatories call "the foundation of our economy, competitiveness, and quality of life."

The legislation guarantees $474.4 billion for the maintenance and construction of roads, bridges, railroads, transit systems, and ports, according to the letter. These systems, the business groups argue, support safe and efficient trade, travel, and tourism in communities across the country.

The package includes three additional elements the coalition highlights. It contains reforms to the review and permitting process for new transportation projects, which the letter says will deliver critical infrastructure "with fewer delays and at lower cost." It marks the first meaningful effort to provide new revenue sources for the Highway Trust Fund, which the signatories describe as essential to the long-term sustainability of federal infrastructure investments. And it offers certainty to states, local governments, transit agencies, and private-sector partners in planning, financing, and delivering major surface transportation projects — activity the letter says helps employ millions of Americans.

The scope of the coalition behind the letter is unusually broad. Signatories span all 50 states, from the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce to the Detroit Regional Chamber, the Vegas Chamber, and the Salt Lake Chamber. State-level groups include the California, Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York business lobbies, alongside hundreds of regional and local chambers. Industry associations such as Associated Industries of Massachusetts, the Connecticut Business & Industry Association, and the Oregon Business & Industry Association also signed.

The letter frames the bill as a starting point rather than a final product. "The BUILD America 250 Act is a strong, bipartisan start to the reauthorization process," the signatories write. "We stand ready to work with you, the Senate, and the Trump Administration in continuing to strengthen this legislation with the goal of making it law this year."

The reauthorization context matters. The bill would succeed current federal surface transportation law, and the coalition's push for action this year signals that business groups want a funding framework in place before the nation's 250th anniversary — the milestone referenced in the bill's title.

For the business community, the stakes center on predictability. States, transit agencies, and private contractors plan multi-year capital projects around federal funding cycles, and the letter argues that guaranteed money and faster permitting would reduce the cost and delay risk that currently accompanies major infrastructure work.

The Highway Trust Fund provision carries particular fiscal weight. The fund has long faced structural revenue shortfalls, and the signatories' endorsement of new revenue sources — the first meaningful effort, in their words — signals business community willingness to back a funding fix rather than rely on periodic general-fund transfers.

The coalition's next step is legislative. With the letter delivered to Speaker Johnson, the chambers are positioning themselves to work with House leadership, the Senate, and the Trump Administration to strengthen and enact the bill within the year.