Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is praising the U.S. House of Representatives after lawmakers passed H.R. 3898, the Promoting Efficient Review for Modern Infrastructure Today (PERMIT) Act — a major step toward breaking the bureaucratic logjam that has slowed energy development nationwide. For Iowa families, farmers and small businesses already squeezed by high energy and transportation costs, the move represents a welcome shift toward common-sense permitting reform.
Brent Gardner, AFP’s Chief Government Affairs Officer, said the bill injects “predictability” into a permitting system that has long kept critical energy projects tied up in red tape.
“America needs to build more energy infrastructure, faster,” he said. “The PERMIT Act will help bring common sense to a permitting process that for too long has stifled investment and increased costs needlessly.”
For Iowa — where agriculture, manufacturing, and logistics are heavily energy-dependent — streamlined permitting could mean faster access to affordable power. Rising energy prices hit farmers especially hard, driving up the cost of fuel, fertilizer, storage and shipping. Those costs eventually push grocery prices higher, squeezing families who are already dealing with inflation at the checkout line.
AFP is also calling on Congress to keep up the momentum. The organization urged Republicans and Democrats to unite next week to pass H.R. 4776, the SPEED Act, which would further standardize and expedite the permitting process. The goal: get both reforms to the Senate and ultimately to President Trump’s desk to help America “build again and win the race to global energy dominance.”
Permitting reform has become a central pillar of AFP’s nationwide Road to Prosperity campaign launched in September. The group has taken its message across the country — touring power plants, oil rigs, coal mines and other energy sites — to highlight how delays in federal permitting slow job growth, restrict energy supply and drive up costs for ordinary Americans. The tour continues into 2026, underscoring the urgency of modernizing the nation’s infrastructure approval process.
In a state like Iowa, where rural communities rely on affordable electricity and fuel to keep farms running and local economies stable, the PERMIT Act’s passage offers hope that Washington is finally ready to get serious about unleashing American energy.
If Congress can finish the job by passing the SPEED Act, Iowa families could soon see the benefits of a government that prioritizes energy abundance over bureaucratic obstruction.
