In roundtable with U.S. Travel Association, Sinema heard from industry leaders about the challenges they’re facing – including workforce shortages, inflation, and ongoing supply chain problems
WASHINGTON – Arizona senior Senator Kyrsten Sinema spoke with travel and tourism industry leaders at a U.S. Travel Association roundtable about how her bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs law helps the industries recover from the pandemic and rebound stronger than ever before.
“Before the pandemic, visitors to Arizona generated over $25 billion in direct travel spending, helping small businesses across our state keep their doors open so we can continue to grow and thrive… We’re now working to rebuild that economic power, and while we’ve made great strides in our recovery, we must do more to craft lasting, bipartisan solutions to protect and strengthen the travel and tourism industries,” said Sinema, co-author and lead negotiator of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs law.
During the roundtable discussion, Sinema highlighted how the bipartisan infrastructure law, which she negotiated and led into law, will help the travel and tourism industries recover from the economic fallout caused by the pandemic and provide the resources necessary to rebound even stronger than pre-pandemic levels.
With many projects already underway, the infrastructure law makes the strongest investment ever in American public transit with $39.2 billion to expand transit systems, increase accessibility, and fund the nation’s transit system repair backlog, estimated at more than 24,000 buses; 5,000 rail cars; 200 stations; and thousands of miles of track, signals, and power systems. This is the biggest investment in passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak. Earlier this year, Sinema announced that $176 million would be invested in Arizona public transportation this year alone.
Sinema’s law also includes $25 billion in additional investments for aviation infrastructure. The bipartisan law provides $15 billion in priority projects at every airport in the United States, $5 billion in competitive grants for terminal development and other landslide projects, and $5 billion in grants for strengthening Air Traffic Control towers and infrastructure. Of this funding, Arizona airports are expected to receive a total of at least $360 million in additional federal support over the next five years.
Participants in the roundtable discussion detailed to Sinema many of the challenges the travel and tourism industries are facing as they recover – including difficulties with visas, workforce shortages, inflation, and ongoing supply chain problems, all of which have a negative impact on their ability to grow and compete.
At the conclusion of her discussion with the U.S. Travel Association, Sinema pledged to apply the same bipartisan approach that earned broad support on her infrastructure law to produce lasting results and provide certainty for businesses and travelers.