Obama Outlines $50 Billion Funding Plan, Calls for Creation of Infrastructure Bank

This story appears in the Feb. 25 print edition of Transport Topics.

The White House last week provided some details of the infrastructure plan President Obama mentioned in his State of the Union address, calling for an immediate $50 billion in infrastructure spending, with $40 billion going to repairing roads, bridges and other facilities.

“Investing in infrastructure not only makes our roads, bridges, and ports safer and allows our businesses and workers to be as competitive as they need to be in the global economy; it also creates thousands of good American jobs that cannot be outsourced,” the White House announced in a Feb. 20 fact sheet.

Under the proposed Fix-it-First policy, $40 billion of the money would go to the “most urgent” repairs. It could bring almost 80% of the nation’s 70,000 structurally deficient bridges up to date, the White House said.

Obama is also seeking a national infrastructure bank, which would provide loans, loan guarantees and lines of credit to local and state governments.

The president has sought a $50 billion package several times since 2011, starting with his budget proposal that year. He has attempted to create an infrastructure bank since his first budget proposal in 2009.

The White House also said Obama wants to cut administrative burdens on programs and shorten delivery time for projects.

The government “can cut federal review and permitting timelines for construction projects such as highway, bridges, railways, ports, waterways, pipelines, and renewable energy by several months to several years,” the administration said.

Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, called the president’s ideas “only a short-term proposal for long-term challenges.”

But Shuster agreed that cutting administrative burdens should be a priority.

“We need to find additional opportunities to move projects ahead faster in all modes of transportation to save time and money,” he said in a statement. “I hope the president will be willing to work with Congress on this and other long-term solutions to our substantial infrastructure needs.”

The White House’s fact sheet did not say how Obama proposed to pay for the measures. In the State of the Union address, he said all of his proposals would be paid for and would not add to the deficit.