Infrastructure Pushed During NGA Leaders’ State of the States Address
WASHINGTON — Infrastructure received prominent billing Jan. 25 when Virginia’s Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, and Nevada’s Brian Sandoval, a Republican, spoke at the annual bipartisan State of the States address by the leaders of the National Governors Association.
“Governors know world-class infrastructure is necessary for a strong economy,” NGA Vice Chairman Sandoval said. “Every day we champion ways to fix, fund and finance infrastructure needs in our states. We also know states cannot fully realize this work alone. That is why we urge the new administration to support our commitment to bring existing infrastructure into a state of good repair by committing to provide long-term and stable funding for America’s infrastructure needs.”
However, Sandoval said he’s concerned about the “ongoing uncertainty over the … stability of the Highway Trust Fund. That instability causes states to think twice before pursuing large-scale, multiyear projects needed to modernize the nation’s infrastructure.”
McAuliffe said he and Sandoval met with House Speaker Paul Ryan before their NGA speeches and that he was encouraged about Trump’s infrastructure ideas. McAuliffe and Sandoval both said they are hopeful about Trump’s intention to allocate $1 trillion over the next decade to infrastructure.
“The president has indicated he would like to invest as much as $1 trillion dollars in our nation’s infrastructure,” said NGA Chairman McAuliffe. “Every single governor in this nation has roads, bridges, tunnels, airports and more that could be repaired or replaced — creating jobs and tremendous economic opportunity.”
McAuliffe, who touted Virginia’s public-private partnerships on I-66 and I-95, where managed toll lanes will pay for construction of free lanes, said his state “leads the nation” in P3s.
“The way [the Trump administration] is looking at a sort of P3-type model, no question about it,” said McAuliffe, who joined Sandoval in receiving that confirmation from Ryan that morning. “But let me also be very clear: P3s are not the panacea for all deals. You have to be very careful about 'em. …When I became governor [in 2014], I inherited two of the worst deals I had ever seen.”
McAuliffe added that he partially redeemed the bungled Route 460 project in Southern Virginia by getting back nearly half of the $300 million in state investment by renegotiating with the private sector partners. He added that states can use federal dollars and “turbo-charge” them with private capital to create more road, rail and freight capacity, saying Virginia couldn’t have begun the multimodal Atlantic Gateway project without the $165 million FASTLANE grant.
Noting that Las Vegas and Phoenix are the largest metropolitan areas not connected by an interstate, Sandoval said, “It is important to preserve public financing mechanisms, specifically tax-exempt financing, which play a central role for state and local governments to raise capital for a variety of public projects, including infrastructure. Those projects help pave the way to grow jobs, strengthen the economy and maintain the United States’ position as a global competitor.”
Sandoval said he was pleased by Trump’s executive order expediting the environmental review of infrastructure projects that he said can delay those in Nevada by four to six years.
“Our nation is craving collaboration,” Sandoval said, adding that he hopes that Trump will meet with the nation’s 50 governors when they gather next month in Washington.
Sandoval said Trump’s choice of then-Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as his running mate was “a good template.”
Before introducing McAuliffe and Sandoval, NGA Executive Director Scott Pattison revealed Luntz Global Partners’ post-election survey of 1,000 voters, which showed that governors are the most trusted elected officials. That prompted Pattison to declare 2017 “The Year of the Governor.”
