A prominent building trades organization is launching a council meant to boost advocacy efforts at the state and federal levels in order to have a say in how billions of billions of dollars for infrastructure projects is spent in New York.

The New York Building Congress has formed the Infrastructure Action Council to promote and advocate for how money from the federal infrastructure law approved in 2021 should be spent.

The group is focusing on a handful of New York-based concerns, including the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Port Authority projects. Streamlining and environmental reviews as well as the permitting process and the development of the workforce will also be a focus.

And the group is also focusing on how the state can create a new program to boost the creation of affordable housing, an issue that has been a key one for Gov. Kathy Hochul this year, but faltered in the budget negotiations.

“More than a year and a half since President Biden’s signing of the historic $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, we’re still sitting on billions of unspent federal dollars that we can use to improve the lives of millions of Americans,” said Carlo A. Scissura, Esq., the president and CEO of the New York Building Congress. “The Infrastructure Action Council unites leading voices in our nation’s building industry to advance our ongoing efforts to fund transformative projects across the state. This group’s commitment to returning the U.S. to the vanguard of infrastructure innovation is inspirational. Trust me when I say the IAC is ready to get to work."