In his first State of the Union address, President Trump, who has vowed to make America great again, upped the ante on infrastructure rebuilding, with promise of “gleaming new roads, bridges, highways, railways” with a whopping $1.5 trillion (it had been $1 trillion). Finally. It had been over a year of promises.
The Legislative Outline for Rebuilding Infrastructure in America arrived a few days later. There on page 1 was the promise of $1.5 trillion, an amount that if applied to new construction would be sufficient a whole second US Interstate system. But reading onward was to be sobered, even confused. The outline only commits to$200 billion. Where was the rest of it?
What’s the Plan?
The White House answer to America’s crumbling infrastructure outlined in this plan. A $1.5 trillion project, $200 billion to be paid by the federal government. The rest by localities and private investment. (Picture courtesy of whitehouse.gov)
Here’s the breakdown of the $200 billion in the White House infrastructure plan.
- $100 billion is to be used as “incentives” for investment by state/local governments and the private concerns.
- $20 billion for existing federal infrastructure loan programs, including the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA).
- $50 billion of the $200 billion would be block grants to governors for rural projects.
- $20 billion “transformative programs,” or “next-century type of infrastructure.”…