ASCE Region 6 Director’s Report
April 2022
by Jerry B. Paz, P.E., ENV SP, M.ASCE | ASCE Region 6 Director
There has never been a better time to be a Civil Engineer and a member of ASCE!!! ASCE reached a historic milestone with the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). Our Infrastructure Report Card has been a tremendous resource for elected officials over the past 25 years. However, the 2021 ASCE Report Card on America’s Infrastructure was the source document supporting IIJA. IIJA provides a $1.2 trillion infrastructure investment that addresses 43 recommendations from the Report Card and includes funding in all 17 Report Card infrastructure categories. In short, Congress literally “cut and pasted” our Report Card into law. Civil Engineers will be busy for the foreseeable future implementing these infrastructure projects. This is a direct result of your membership in ASCE. How’s that for Member Value! So the next time you talk to a civil engineer who wonders what joining ASCE will do for them and their career, this should be the first thing off your lips.
Other things going on at the national level include:
A few items on the national level include
- Legislative Fly-In: ASCE members have participated in the Fly-In for several years literally begging members of Congress to support infrastructure investment. However, with the passage of IIJA, this was the one year where we simply said, “Thank You.” We thanked them for all their hard work, and what was unique this year – they thanked us back. ASCE’s reputation is at an all time high and every member of congress was very well aware of the role ASCE played in passing IIJA. So, it was a mutual appreciation for each other’s work. While not every member of congress did not vote for IIJA, it was a bipartisan bill that passed the Senate, House and signed into law by our President. Yet, there were still active pieces of legislation ASCE recommended in the areas of Resilient Infrastructure, Water Resources Development Act, and Research and Development. We also appealed to them not to pass a Gas Tax Holiday, which will take away dollars for our Interstate system.
- Update on Future World Vision: The Future World Vision (FWV) now has a desktop App Mega City 2070. ASCE members across the country tuned in on 2/22/22 at 2:22 pm for the roll-out of the App, the new website, and to view the 3D model that puts you in the heart of the Future World City. Go to: Futureworldvision.org to view the website and download the App onto your desktop.
- The Task Committee on building the Engineering Team will present their final recommendation at the October Board Meeting.
- The next ASCE Board of Directors Meeting is on June 22-23, 2022, and will be virtual.
- Please sign up for the ASCE Convention in Anaheim, California October 23-26. Earn some PDH’s, hang out with some cool Civil Engineers then take your kids to Disneyland next door.
To share your views or provide ideas on how ASCE can better serve its members and the profession, please email Jerry Paz at [email protected].
