On Wednesday, November 23rd, Steve Anderson, Managing Director of InfrastructureUSA, joined Errol Louis, host of NY1’s Inside City Hall, to discuss the future of infrastructure under the Trump administration.
According to Louis, “Hillary Clinton was talking about something more traditional: taxing the wealthy, using the money to set up direct spending and maybe set up an infrastructure bank where localities and port authorities can come and borrow money…Donald Trump has something much more, kind of, complicated in mind.”
More specifically, Louis explains that Trump’s strategy involves giving tax credits to corporations who take on infrastructure projects.
Anderson’s take on the situation is one of all-around optimism. “The long overdue national dialogue has finally begun,” he said, and “that we are now talking about the methodologies for creative financing is an enormous step forward.”
But will Trump’s plan actually work? Experts on both sides of the aisle have been critical of encouraging infrastructure investment through corporate incentives.
According to Anderson, “It’s going to have to pass the smell test. Are these fair deals? Are these deals that really serve the public interest, or are these deals that in fact enrich corporations and corporate interests?” He says that with a sensible approach that uses not just Trump’s corporate incentives, but also tools like an infrastructure bank, we can expect tremendous returns for the private sector as well as the public at large.
“Not only are we fixing the actual bridge,” he says, “we are creating quality jobs, we are preserving for a next generation and it’s an opportunity that we now have to move forward on.”
Watch the full segment on NY1.com
Tags: Donal Trump, Errol Louis, New York 1, New York City, NY1, Steve Anderson, Trump Administration