America’s Workers Are Ready to Build. Permitting Delays Stand in the Way.

PERMITTING DELAYS COST AMERICAN WORKERS JOBS AND PAYCHECKS.

An infrastructure announcement does not create a construction job. Breaking ground does. For America’s welders, electricians, equipment operators, and laborers, permitting delays mean more than postponed projects. They mean lost paychecks, idle crews, and missed opportunities to train the next generation of skilled workers.

THE PROBLEM WITH THE STATUS QUO

America cannot build a strong construction workforce if it cannot get projects under construction. Lengthy reviews, unpredictable permitting decisions, and prolonged litigation make it harder for contractors to schedule crews, invest in equipment, and hire workers. When projects stall indefinitely or are abandoned, the jobs they would have supported disappear with them.

The consequences extend to apprenticeships and workforce development. Building trades unions and contractors depend on active projects to train skilled workers. Without predictable construction schedules, they face greater uncertainty in recruiting, training, and retaining the workforce needed to build America’s infrastructure.

The scale of the opportunity is enormous. An American Council on Renewable Energy analysis estimates that planned high-voltage transmission projects could support more than one million job-years of employment, including 428,000 direct job-years, under a scenario accounting for projects’ likelihood of completion. These figures are not projections of the bipartisan bill’s impact, but they illustrate the substantial workforce opportunities associated with infrastructure investment—and the stakes when viable projects cannot move forward.

HOW THE BIPARTISAN BILL HELPS

The bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act would help turn planned investments into construction jobs by making federal permitting more predictable and approved projects less vulnerable to prolonged uncertainty.

The legislation would establish enforceable deadlines for federal permitting decisions, strengthen certainty for projects that have already secured approvals, and set clearer limits on legal challenges. These reforms would help contractors schedule work, mobilize crews, and invest in equipment with greater confidence.

For American workers, greater certainty means more reliable construction schedules, steadier employment opportunities, and stronger pathways into skilled trades. The goal is straightforward: move viable projects from planning to construction so investments can translate into jobs and paychecks.

Read the Bipartisan Policy Center’s explanation of the bill.

WHO SUPPORTS IT — AND WHY

North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) President Sean McGarvey urged strong support for the bipartisan bill, emphasizing that it “supports job creation, strengthens America’s energy and infrastructure capabilities, and helps reduce costs for working families.”

Other national labor leaders have been equally direct:

• United Association General President Mark McManus warned: “in our industry, uncertainty means one thing: unemployment.”
• Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) General President Brent Booker described the human cost in a November 4 op-ed in The Hill: “To LIUNA members, it’s another day without a paycheck, health coverage or pension credit.”
• International Union of Operating Engineers General President John L. Downey said the legislation would “put thousands of Operating Engineers to work.”

Pipeliners Local 798 has also endorsed the bipartisan agreement.

Support reaches state labor leaders as well. At a November 2 roundtable hosted by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and the National Association of Manufacturers, Rhode Island AFL-CIO President Patrick Crowley argued that renewable energy development depends on getting infrastructure built: “We can no longer be held back by a permitting regime designed to thwart that development.”

Construction contractors are sounding the same alarm: stalled projects mean idle workers and missed opportunities.

Associated Builders and Contractors Vice President Kristen Swearingen said reform would help “put people to work.” Independent Electrical Contractors, whose training programs enroll 23,000 electrical apprentices, warned that stalled projects mean missed opportunities for skilled workers. National Electrical Contractors Association CEO David Long likewise emphasized the importance of moving projects from planning into construction.

For companies building pipelines, power lines, and communications networks, predictable schedules are essential. The American Pipeline Contractors Association has highlighted how delays disrupt workforce scheduling and equipment orders, while the Power and Communication Contractors Association points to postponed transmission, distribution, and broadband projects.

The Mechanical Contractors Association of America also supports reform, and the Associated General Contractors of America joined a 138-organization coalition calling permitting reform “an economic and affordability imperative.”

From union halls to construction sites, the message is unmistakable: America has skilled workers ready to build. Congress must help clear the path for them to get to work.