Congressman Jimmy Patronis, who represents Florida’s First Congressional District and serves on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, identified permitting reform as the construction industry’s most pressing policy challenge during a recent appearance on the Beyond the Build podcast. In a conversation with Kelvin Enfinger, Vice President at Greenhut Construction and past chair of ABC North Florida, Patronis addressed the soft costs that plague projects when permits are delayed, calling them an often-overlooked drain on contractor margins.
“I get very spun up when we have excessive delays that lead to excessive soft costs,” Patronis said. “Legal expenses, engineering expenses, survey expenses – because somebody is nickel-and-diming or challenging a development.” He criticized the institutional culture within agencies like the Army Corps of Engineers, where a subset of career staff treat permit denial as a default rather than an exception. Patronis noted that new Corps leadership has shown interest in refocusing the agency on its mission, but cautioned that contractors should watch closely whether that shift holds.
For construction professionals managing federal and state-permitted projects, the message is clear: pressure on permitting reform is building at the congressional level. The current political conditions—a cooperative White House, majority in both chambers, and roughly 70 outgoing members motivated to leave on a productive note—create a window that does not stay open indefinitely.
On infrastructure funding, Patronis highlighted the surface transportation authorization bill as a priority for his committee. This legislation authorizes federal spending on roads and bridges, which is critical for markets like Northwest Florida, where population growth is outpacing road capacity on corridors such as Highway 98. The Warrior Road Act, which Patronis championed, addresses access to Hurlburt Field and the broader military corridor, bringing real construction volume. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s $489 million port infrastructure development program is another signal that federal infrastructure investment continues under the current administration.
The workforce shortage also took center stage. Enfinger cited the current national shortage of 360,000 construction workers, a number that could grow by another 100,000 within a year. Patronis, who started his career with a culinary arts degree, made a personal case for skilled trades. “There is a satisfaction you get by creating something with your hands that you’re never going to get from taking a test and hopefully getting an A,” he said. “When you get that gratification – you’ve done something yourself, that’s a different type of confidence builder.”
Patronis’s authentic testimony underscores the need for policy support and institutional buy-in from schools and community colleges to fill the workforce pipeline. The construction industry cannot solve the shortage alone; it requires elected officials willing to say plainly that a skilled trade is not a fallback but a foundation.
The Beyond the Build podcast is produced in partnership with Associated Builders and Contractors North Florida and Florida Construction News, hosted by Kelvin Enfinger. Episodes are available on major podcast platforms and YouTube.
