02/15/2018

Trump Rolls Out Infrastructure Plan

The plan makes no mention of a permanent revenue stream

This week, the White House released a long-awaited plan to overhaul the nation’s infrastructure, focused on investments in rural America and letting state and local governments prioritize projects. The $1.5 trillion plan includes a $200 billion investment from the federal government, which President Donald Trump said will “strengthen the economy, make our country more competitive, reduce the cost of goods and services for American families and enable Americans to build their lives on top of the best infrastructure in the world.”

Half of the $200 billion in federal spending in the plan would go toward an incentive program for state and local governments that invest in infrastructure projects.

The plan makes no mention of a permanent revenue stream, but Trump said yesterday he is in favor of a 25-cent hike in the gas tax to help pay for the package. The gas tax supports the Highway Trust Fund to pay for road projects but has not been raised in more than two decades.

Congressional Democrats have called for $1 trillion in federal spending on infrastructure, and are likely to oppose Trump’s plan. “While we desperately need new investment in public capital, Trump’s proposal isn’t remotely serious,” said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). “At best, it would be a trivial sum of money pretending to be something big.”

The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) is working to unite associations in urging Congress to pass an infrastructure package this year. NAM partnered with the Associated General Contractors to form the Infrastructure Working Group last year, and is organizing the Infrastructure Working Group’s Hill Days on March 6-7 to meet with members of Congress and urge action on a bill. More information on the Hill Days can be found here.

This article was provided to OSAE by the Power of A and ASAE's Inroads.