The Electrification Coalition (EC) recently sent a letter to congressional leadership urging lawmakers to extend fiscal year 2026 authorization and funding levels, including advance appropriations, under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, as Congress works out a short-term extension of surface transportation programs ahead of the September 30 deadline.
The letter asks that any extension package, along with future extensions and an eventual long-term reauthorization bill, carry forward the advance appropriations described in Division J of the current law. The organization argues that extending the law without those advance appropriations would amount to a 25% cut to transportation spending and could stall projects already underway.
According to the letter, advance appropriations have given state transportation departments and private industry the certainty to plan multi-year procurement, negotiate contracts with charging companies and commit staff to longer-term infrastructure buildout. Private companies have used the same funding expectations to invest in manufacturing capacity and installation expertise.
The EC noted it was disappointed that the Senate’s Continuing Appropriations and Extension Act 2027 did not include an extension of the Division J advance appropriations, and it encouraged both chambers to include that funding in a final package at FY26 authorization and funding levels.
According to EC Executive Director Ben Prochazka, continued transportation infrastructure investment supports domestic manufacturing, private-sector investment and the deployment of light-, medium- and heavy-duty electric vehicles, and that letting funding lapse before a new highway bill passes would create uncertainty for state agencies and private-sector partners that have built plans around long-term federal commitments.
The letter arrives as Congress continues work on a broader, five-year surface transportation reauthorization. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved the BUILD America 250 Act by a 62-2 vote on May 22, advancing a bill the committee describes as an investment in roads, bridges, transit, rail, freight movement and transportation safety. That bill and any Senate counterpart will ultimately determine what happens to charging infrastructure funding once the current law’s authority expires.
No final extension package or long-term reauthorization bill has been enacted.
