Congress talks infrastructure; Klobuchar touts $1 trillion plan

By Bruce Abbe

Infrastructure development is capturing a lot of Congressional bipartisan attention in Washington, D.C. these days, and recently in the early Presidential campaign with an ambitious proposal put forth by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. Whether or not all that attention gets translated into passing legislation remains to be seen.

AMERICA’S BRIDGES IN POOR CONDITION

The American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) released its annual bridge report April 5. The report classifies 47,052 bridges in the United States as “structurally deficient.” ARTBA’s number is actually down a bit from 2018. ARTBA analysis is based on the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Bridge Inventory database. “Structurally deficient” does not mean a bridge is unsafe to drive over, but does mean it’s in need of repair, or at the very least, some components need repairing.

Some 18,842 interstate highway bridges, one out of every three, have ‘identifiable” repair needs, up from 17,726 in the 2018 report.

CONGRESS HOLDS INFRASTRUCTURE HEARINGS

According to a report in Cargo Business News, “it appears Congress can’t get enough of talking about the need for action on our nation’s roads, bridges, waterways, pipelines, broadband, airports and more” infrastructure needs. There have been more than 14 transportation-related hearings in at least four Congressional committees since the new Congress was sworn in on Jan. 3.

Members from both political parties have expressed hope for an infrastructure bill this session. House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., has indicated he plans to treat an infrastructure package and federal highway transportation fund reauthorization as two separate bills, but no timelines for introduction and possible passage have come to light, CBN reports.

KLOBUCHAR ANNOUNCES $1 TRILLION INFRASTRUCTURE PLAN

Senator Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., isn’t shy about staking infrastructure development as a centerpiece of her campaign leading up to the Presidential primaries, now not so far off with a host of potential Democratic challengers spending time in Iowa, a traditional early primary state.

On March 28, Klobuchar proposed a $1 trillion plan for infrastructure development covering roads, highways and bridges; updating locks, dams and ports; modernizing airports; rural broadband; drinking and wastewater community infrastructure and more. The tab would be paid for my boosting federal investment; bringing back “Move America Bonds, “Build America Bonds,” and Clean Energy Bonds that provide subsidies to local and state governments; reform of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund tax for its intended purposes; corporate tax reforms and more.

She contrasted her plan with a $200 billion infrastructure budget proposal President Trump has requested from Congress that the administration says will lead to a $1 trillion investment – a plan she says is “a mirage and … leaves the details up to lawmakers.”

Read more about Klobuchar’s plan.