White House “Details” Infrastructure Plan

On Wednesday, the White House issued a fact sheet providing more detail on the infrastructure proposal from President Obama’s State of the Union Address.   The Administration’s plan recognizes the need to continue focusing on our nation’s growing infrastructure needs, but falls short in addressing the long-term financial challenges of the federal infrastructure programs.  The summary of the President’s plan can be found here. According to the information released by the White House yesterday, the President is once again requesting a one-time $50 billion investment – for its “Fix-IT-First” initiative – which would direct $40 billion toward reducing the backlog of deferred maintenance on highways, bridges, transit systems, and airports nationwide.  The proposal does not detail what the remaining $10 billion will be used for, nor does it identify how they plan on paying for the $50 billion.  It is important to note that the Administration has failed in their three previous attempts to get Congress to approve this same $50 billion in frontloaded infrastructure investment proposal. The president also outlined his plan to enhance private capital in U.S. infrastructure investment through a “Rebuild America Partnership, which includes: the creation of a National Infrastructure Bank; enactment of America Fast Forward Bonds, which according to the White House would build on the Build America Bonds program; and implementation of the TIFIA program, which was already enacted as a result of passage of MAP-21.  The proposal also calls for “cutting red tape” by expediting the federal permitting and review procedures for select projects throughout the county.  The White House makes no mention of the reforms to the permitting and review process enacted into law in MAP-21. In response to the President’s plan, AGC’s Chief Executive Officer Stephen Sandherr issued a statement  acknowledging the President’s consistent focus on infrastructure, urged the president to swiftly issue environmental streamlining regulations called for in MAP 21 and encouraged  the Administration to expend energy identifying ways to address the long-term funding challenges that threaten significant cuts in federal transportation investments in the near future. AGC stands committed to work with Congress and the president to craft reliable multi-year legislation that puts us on a path to repairing and expanding the nation’s transportation infrastructure. For more information, please contact Sean O’Neill at (202) 547-8892 or oneills@agc.org.