Sponsors (6)
The bill directs dedicated, targeted federal funding to repair and replace worse-condition bridges—improving safety and reducing long-run costs—at the expense of reallocating highway apportionments that could shrink funding for emissions-reduction, resilience, and other transportation priorities, and may distribute money away from some communities or become misaligned over time.
Drivers, local businesses, and state/local governments receive new, formula-targeted federal funding that prioritizes bridges in worse condition, enabling replacement, rehabilitation, and preservation to improve travel safety, reduce closures and detours, and lower long-term repair costs and economic disruption.
State and local governments can use the funds flexibly on non-Federal-aid bridges, letting municipalities address critical local bridge needs that might otherwise lack funding.
States and localities will have a fixed share of highway apportionments redirected to bridges, potentially reducing funding available for other transportation programs and projects previously supported by those apportionments.
Eliminating the carbon reduction and PROTECT subsection funding weakens federal support for emissions-reducing transportation projects and resilience investments, risking progress on climate and extreme-weather preparedness.
States with relatively few or better-rated bridges may receive less funding despite other infrastructure needs, shifting resources away from some rural or otherwise disadvantaged communities.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates a national bridge program funded by redirecting a fixed share of Federal‑aid highway funds and allocates money to States by bridge deck area and poor‑condition share using the 2024 NBI.
Creates a new federal National Bridge program funded from the Highway Trust Fund by setting aside a fixed share of certain Federal-aid highway dollars and redirecting prior climate/resilience program slots. The program will pay for replacement, rehabilitation, preservation, protection, and construction of bridges on Federal‑aid highways, and states may opt to use funds on non‑Federal bridges. Money is apportioned to states using a two-part formula based on bridge deck area: 75% by each State’s share of total deck area on Federal‑aid highways and 25% by each State’s share of deck area classified as in poor condition, using the National Bridge Inventory as of December 31, 2024. The change also removes a prior Carbon Reduction program entry and a PROTECT subprogram reference and updates apportionment math in Title 23 U.S.C.
Introduced February 9, 2026 by Troy E. Nehls · Last progress February 9, 2026