Our infrastructure is broken Years of inaction have allowed American infrastructure to degrade into a state of disrepair. With yesterday’s release of President Donald J. Trump’s Legislative Outline for Rebuilding Infrastructure in America, the Administration is committed to reversing this sad course.
Here are the facts:
- One out of every five miles of highway pavement in the United States is in poor condition.
- More than 50,000 American bridges are rated as “structurally deficient.”
- Commute times have increased every year since 2009—and more than 40 percent of urban interstate miles are congested.
- Nearly 40 percent of Americans living in rural areas lack sufficient broadband access.
- Lengthy reviews hold up infrastructure projects for years.
- The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that failing to meet our infrastructure needs will cost us $4 trillion in GDP and 2.5 million jobs by 2025.
An American budget
Yesterday, White House Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney released the Fiscal Year 2019 Budget for the U.S. Government: “Efficient, Effective, Accountable: An American Budget.”
“As a nation, we face difficult times—challenged by a crumbling infrastructure, growing deficits, rogue nations, and irresponsible Washington spending,” Director Mulvaney said. “Through this budget proposal, it is clear that the President and this Administration are determined to reverse these trends.”
Seven things to know about the President’s budget:
- It provides for a robust and rebuilt national defense.
- It promotes a healthy American economy.
- It curbs wasteful Washington spending.
- It supports the President’s innovative infrastructure initiative.
- It secures our porous southern border and strengthens enforcement of immigration law.
- It keeps our commitment to improving veterans’ health.
- It combats the opioids epidemic.
Watch: Let the Games begin
Vice President Mike Pence arrived in South Korea last week with Second Lady Karen Pence to lead the American Olympic Delegation for the 2018 Winter Games. He attended the Opening Ceremony in Pyeongchang, South Korea, on Friday.
The Vice President met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in ahead of the Games, discussing how the United States and our global allies will continue to intensify a maximum pressure campaign on North Korea until it abandons its nuclear and ballistic missile programs once and for all.
“We will protect our peoples. We will defend our freedom. And together, we will forge a future of security, prosperity, and peace for both of our nations for generations to come,” the Vice President said.
PHOTO OF THE DAY
President Donald J. Trump at an infrastructure initiative meeting | February 11, 2018 (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead)
POTUS TODAY
This morning, President Trump will host a meeting with members of Congress on trade. Later, the President will host a roundtable with the National Sheriff's Association. In the afternoon, the President and First Lady will host a National African American History Month reception.
Today, Vice President Pence will deliver remarks at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Later, the
Did You Know? How $200B can be leveraged to $1.5T
February 13, 2018
As President Donald J. Trump unveiled his infrastructure plan this week, one question dominated the political debate — how can $200 billion in federal investment grow to $1.5 trillion?
The federal government historically has played, and should continue to play, an important role in developing infrastructure in our Nation. However, the vast bulk of infrastructure spending in the United States is nonfederal. The President’s plan allows:
Private, state, and local entities to apply for federal funding through an incentives program. In order to win the federal award, these outside entities must identify a revenue stream to fund, maintain, and repair their projects that does not solely rely on the federal government.
It also enhances the federal government’s loan programs, so that localities, states, and private investors have wider access to federal credit programs and bonds to fund their projects.
The President’s incentive program dedicates $100 billion directly into the federal coffers to help states, localities, and private entities complete their infrastructure projects and/or get them off the ground.
How would it work?
A state, locality, or private entity would approach the federal government with an infrastructure project they have identified – complete with an outside revenue stream to fund and maintain it – and then would ask the federal government to make up the difference. A federal incentive grant could not exceed 20 percent of new revenue to complete the project, and any individual state could not receive more than 10 percent of the total amount available under the infrastructure incentives program. We believe this will create a great return on taxpayer dollars, as we will be getting a 10 to 1, or 5 to 1, return on a $100 billion investment.
For example, Nashville, Tennessee, is a booming metropolitan region in need of additional transportation investments. Nashville has developed a $5.4 billion, 14-year transportation improvements package funded by dedicated local revenue that will go before the voters this Spring. That is exactly the type of transformative local investments that the Administration’s infrastructure initiative will support and encourage.
The President’s plan will also widen local, state, and private entities’ access to capital to fund their infrastructure projects. The federal government lending programs currently include TIFIA (for transportation), WIFIA (for water), and RRIF (for rail).
Did you know that $1 dollar in taxpayer money lent by TIFIA generates $40 in nonfederal investment? That’s what’s known as leveraging – the federal government spending $1 dollar and receiving $40 return on investment in order to get our Nation’s transportation needs met. In theory, $10 billion in TIFIA loans alone could be leveraged up to $400 billion in projects.
The Trump Administration believes states and localities are better equipped to understand the right level and type of infrastructure investments needed for their communities. The federal government will be there to help push these projects into reality, by providing some incentive capital — conditioned upon outside, independent funding and the achievement of milestones within identified time frames — and by expanding federal credit options.
Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, Members of Congress, and Members of the Cabinet in Meeting on Trade
INFRASTRUCTURE & TECHNOLOGY
Issued on: February 13, 2018
Cabinet Room
11:44 A.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Okay, thank you very much. I’m delighted to welcome both Republicans and Democrats. Nice sound. Isn’t that a nice sound? And we won’t be discussing DACA, but there’s plenty of discussion right now going on about DACA from both the House and the Senate, to the White House.
We’re here today to discuss a matter of vital importance to our nation’s economy and security, and I’ve been discussing it for years. And I’ve certainly discussed it in great detail on the campaign trail. That’s America’s aluminum and steel industries, and many other industries where we are taken advantage of by other countries. And I alluded to it yesterday, too.
Last year, I directed the Secretary of Commerce to investigate whether steel and aluminum imports are threatening to impair U.S. national security. You see what’s happened with our steel and aluminum industries. They’re being decimated by dumping from many countries, in particular one, but many countries. They’re dumping and destroying our industry and destroying the families of workers. And we can’t let that happen.
Secretary Ross submitted the result of the investigations to me last month. My administration is now reviewing the reports and considering all options. And part of the options would be tariffs coming in. As they dump steel, they pay tariffs — substantial tariffs — which means the United States would actually make a lot of money, and probably our steel industry and our aluminum industry would come back into our country. Right now, it’s decimated. |
