31 Aug How to Take Advantage of Federal Infrastructure Funds

“Well over a year ago, we would be talking to our clients and contacts, and they weren’t expressing much enthusiasm about infrastructure funding,” says Dawn M. Meyers, a partner based in the Ft. Lauderdale offices of the law firm of Berger Singerman. “We were a little confused as to why.” She and her colleagues determined to find out, and in March commissioned a survey of 1,700 development, construction, and planning business owners, seeking insight into their perception of the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which was signed into law in November 2021. While a casual observer could be forgiven for having the sense that the legislation—subject to the compromises of the underpowered Democratic majority in the Senate—didn’t end up offering much, that observer would be mistaken. Over the next five years, the bill is expected to funnel close to $20 billion in federal monies to Florida to upgrade roads, bridges, airports, seaports and water systems. But even these surveyed respondents, who might use those funds to good advantage, seemed dubious about the enterprise. More than half the respondents said they were “not optimistic about the … bill and how it would help their business,” and 16 percent said they were “doubtful.” A full 67 percent did not believe there would be sufficient opportunity for Florida’s private sector to bid on contracts—and perhaps most chilling of all, only 17 percent of respondents indicated they were very likely to bid on emerging public-private partnership opportunities (a technique the state has used to great effect in recent decades). Twenty-one percent responded as “somewhat likely,” and 62% said they were not likely at all.