Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Florida Politics

Marco Rubio, Tammy Baldwin Bring Back Proposal to Help Infrastructure Deal With Severe Weather

Rubio is backing U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin’s, D-Wisc., “Built to Last Act” which they first worked on at the start of last year.

Share Story Via Text, E-Mail, Facebook or Twitter
Rubio is backing U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin’s, D-Wisc., “Built to Last Act” which they first worked on at the start of last year.

This week, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., threw his support behind a proposal that supporters insist will help local communities build stronger infrastructure to deal with severe weather.

Rubio is backing U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin’s, D-Wisc., “Built to Last Act” which they first worked on at the start of last year.

The bill would have the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) “identify a consistent, federal set of best available forward-looking metrological information.” The bill would also have the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) “make that information available to standards-developing organizations, with advice and technical assistance to help ensure organizations are able to incorporate this information into standards, building codes and voluntary certifications.”

“I am proud to partner with Senator Baldwin, a fellow member of the Climate Solutions Caucus, in this bipartisan effort to mitigate the challenges and impacts of a changing climate and empower states to plan appropriately,” Rubio said. “Florida’s public and private building standards are already among the most stringent in the nation, including the requirement to withstand major hurricanes. The Built to Last Act would bolster our preparedness by improving the Federal Government’s capacity to share projections of weather-related risks to our communities and provide guidance for building codes, ensuring that the infrastructure we build in the future is more resilient to weather impacts.”

“As extreme weather and costly damages becomes more and more frequent it’s important we equip states and local communities with what they need to build stronger and more climate-reliant infrastructure,” Baldwin said. “Our bipartisan legislation will help make sure our infrastructure is built to last and save taxpayer dollars.”

The senators pointed to a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) which found that “the estimated annual economic losses from damage caused by hurricanes and storm-related flooding is $54 billion to households, businesses, and government.”

When they first introduced the proposal, the senators insisted their proposal would help “ensure federal, state, local and private buildings, roads, and other infrastructure are more resilient to extreme weather events by equipping standards-developing organizations that issue building codes and other standards with the best available information on weather-related risks, including floods, hurricanes and wildfires.”

The bill has the support of R Street, the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Planning Association, Enterprise Community Partners and National Ready Mix Concrete Association and other groups.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

Baldwin’s bill was sent to the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee on Wednesday. So far, there is no counterpart over in the U.S. House.

 

Reach Kevin Derby at kevin.derby@floridadaily.com.

 

Author

  • Kevin Derby

    Originally from Jacksonville, Kevin Derby is a contributing writer for Florida Daily and covers politics across Florida. View all posts

Share Story Via Text, E-Mail, Facebook or Twitter

Follow Us on Social Media

Related Stories

Story 2

Florida’s U.S. Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott sent a letter to President Joe Biden urging his immediate approval of the State of Florida’s...

Florida Politics

As communities across Florida’s Gulf Coast recover from Hurricane Helene, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Sen. Marco Rubio and Sen. Rick Scott are meeting with...

Senator Marco Rubio

The Office of the Surgeon General announced a public advisory warning of alarmingly high levels of parental stress. The advisory and the Surgeon General’s accompanying op-ed, offered a...

Foreign Affairs

Florida’s Senior U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R), Vice Chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, demands the Biden administration to guard domestic chip technology...

Business

Florida Senator Marco Rubio (R) recently contacted executives at John Deere, highlighting the need for patriotic companies to prioritize American workers and their families. Deere...

Foreign Affairs

Florida Senator Marco Rubio (R), who serves as Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, joined Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Ranking Member of...

Healthcare

Florida Senator Rick Scott (R) joined fellow Florida Senator Marco Rubio (R, Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and 17 of their colleagues in urging Department...

Florida Politics

In response to former President Donald Trump being found guilty on all 34 counts during his hush money trial in New York, Florida leaders...