John Hennessy III,
P.E.
Will 2016 Election Promises for Significant Infrastructure Investment Be Kept? Today’s political environment can be summed up in two, frustrating words: partisan gridlock. Aside from the year-end sprint to pass tax reform, it has become next-to-impossible to enact major legislation in several areas, including transportation, water infrastructure and energy. Expectations for 2018 nonetheless, remain high.
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Industry experts and government officials fear that when President Donald Trump’s proposed $1 trillion infrastructure plan is finally “laid out,” water infrastructure projects could largely be “left out.”…The president has already given preliminary indications that water projects are not likely to be ranked at the top of his priority list. That is more than unfortunate. Water resources are critical aspects of sustainability for the nation.
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The Trump administration has proposed investing an extra $1 trillion in infrastructure to create millions of new jobs. To maximize the impact of such investment on employment, planners need to adopt a new jobs-centric approach that prioritizes investments in infrastructure projects on the basis of their job creation potential.
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AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS
Infrastructure is the physical framework upon which the U.S. economy operates and the nation’s standard of living depends. Everything depends on this framework, including transporting goods, powering factories, heating and cooling office buildings, and enjoying a glass of clean water.
Transportation Issues Daily
President Obama has resurrected his proposal to invest $50 billion in infrastructure and wants it included in the fiscal cliff deal. Republicans were immediately critical of the proposal.
Details were not released, but it is assumed that the proposal is similar to those previously announced by President Obama in 2010 and 2011. Those proposals have not passed the Democratic Senate or the Republican House. It’s debatable how hard the White House has pushed Congress to pass the proposal.
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FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF SAN FRANCISCO
Increasing government spending during periods of economic weakness to offset slower private-sector spending has long been an important policy tool. In particular, during the recent recession and slow recovery, federal officials put in place fiscal measures, including increased government spending, to boost economic growth and lower unemployment.
Transortation Issues Daily
When a new Congress or member proposes an infrastructure bank (learn more from Wikipedia), like clockwork I will hear from a couple of State DOT CFOs who say in frustration: “But that’s financing, not funding.” It’s great to have more financing tools and great to accelerate projects, my friends say, but financing rarely adds the additional new funding that is needed to address our long range needs and growing infrastructure deficit. The funding and projects deficit grows due to rising vehicle fuel efficiency, increased construction costs, inflation, and more roads reaching old age and needing preservation and maintenance.
From the Council on Foreign Relations:
By: Scott Thomasson
Despite the pressing infrastructure investment needs of the United States, federal infrastructure policy is paralyzed by partisan wrangling over massive infrastructure bills that fail to move through Congress. Federal policymakers should think beyond these bills alone and focus on two politically viable approaches.
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
President Obama’s FY 2013 Budget proposes a bold plan to renew and expand America’s infrastructure. The plan includes a $50 billion up-front investment connected to a $476 billion six-year reauthorization of the surface transportation program and the creation of a National Infrastructure Bank. In support of this commitment, the Department of the Treasury, with the Council of Economic Advisers, has updated our analysis of the economic effects of infrastructure investment.
Ethan Pollack joined the Economic Policy Institute in July 2008. Prior to joining EPI, he worked at the Office of Management and Budget and the George Washington Institute of Public Policy. His areas of interest include public investment, fiscal policy, transportation, and budget and tax policy. His work has been used in numerous publications, and he has appeared as a guest on CNN, Fox News, BBC World News, Canada TV, Russia Today, and WNYC.
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