The (Almost) Daily Brief
Megan Dayton · July 10, 2026
CBO says the House highway bill widens the trust fund gap it was written to close, with the next reauthorization clock already running toward September 30.
CBO finds the House highway bill deepens the trust fund hole it was meant to close. The Congressional Budget Office scored the House’s five-year surface transportation reauthorization, the BUILD America 250 Act, and found it pushes the Highway Trust Fund shortfall to $99.5 billion in the highway account and $48.2 billion in transit by 2031, above CBO’s May baseline, because the bill’s new EV and hybrid registration fees raise under $3 billion over five years. This is the pipeline for member firms: the bill sets federal-aid highway and bridge funding through FY2031, and a scored deficit arms everyone who wants to shrink or restructure the program before current IIJA authorizations lapse September 30.
Source: Roll Call, July 10
ENG MnDOT’s $21M Mankato bridge-and-interchange job advances. District 7’s Veterans Memorial Bridge repair and the Highway 169/Belgrade Avenue interchange rebuild, awarded to Ames Construction at roughly $21.3 million, keeps greater-Minnesota bridge and interchange work active through 2027.
Source: MnDOT District 7 release, July 6
BIZ Verdantas buys AEEC, and the AI-capability land grab keeps running. The 2,485-person environment, water, and energy consultancy acquired Reston-based American Engineering & Environmental Consultants on July 8 for its patented water-data analytics and AI/ML tools, another sign that data capability is now a core acquisition driver reshaping firm valuations and competitive position.
Source: PR Newswire / Verdantas, July 8
BIZ Minnesota Paid Leave is paying out nearly double what it collects. The state program paid $598 million in benefits against $344 million in premiums over its first six months and has drawn its startup fund down to $70 million, with DEED due to set 2027 rates by month’s end and the combined employer-and-worker premium able to climb from 0.88% toward the 1.1% statutory cap. For firms as employers, that is a live 2027 payroll-cost variable worth pricing in now.
Source: KSTP, July 9
BIZ The GOP governor field is running on budget cuts. Lisa Demuth, Kendall Qualls, and Mike Lindell are each promising to shrink the state budget to fund tax cuts ahead of the August primary. How that contest resolves will help set the state’s appetite for transportation funding and bonding in the 2027 session and beyond.
Source: MPR News, July 9
Highway Trust Fund. The federal account, fed mainly by fuel taxes, that reimburses states for most highway and transit capital work. As electric and more-efficient vehicles erode gas-tax receipts, outlays outrun revenue, which is why CBO’s score matters and why Congress keeps leaning on general-fund transfers to keep it solvent.
Build your bench: ACEC Minnesota’s Leadership Development Series for mid-career professionals runs September 2026 through April 2027 in a 24-person cohort, and the four-session Emerging Leaders program for early-career staff runs this October and November.
The (Almost) Daily Brief publishes most weekday mornings: policy, funding, and industry news for Minnesota’s engineering firms, in a few minutes of reading. Browse past editions or subscribe →