P3s See Federal Inaction as Elevating Their Importance
Yet, speakers said the future remains bright for P3s as state and local officials go begging for road and bridge maintenance funding amid declining federal fuel tax revenues that are leaving the Highway Trust Fund on the brink of insolvency.
P3 supporters, who described their roles in mostly state and local P3s at the two-hour event, were not confident they would soon see extensive involvement by the federal government.
“It really is kind of dismaying the lack of enthusiasm we’re seeing at the federal level,” said Art Smith, president of Management Analysis Inc. and president of the National Council for Public-Private Partnerships.
Most of the panelists, including Republican Indiana state Rep. Ed Soliday, said they were doubtful Congress will enact a long-term transportation bill when the current law expires on May 31.
Soliday, chairman of the Indiana House Roads and Transportation Committee, said he’s convinced Congress will again “kick the can down the road.”
"P3s are more important than ever,” said Matt Zone, a Cleveland city councilman and second vice president of the National League of Cities. “We can’t wait for Congress.”
Caitlin Ghoshal, a P3 risk adviser at Aon Infrastructure Solutions, said her company expects P3 projects in the United States to increase for several reasons, driven largely by the fact that they transfer risk from the public to the private sector.
“There’s a critical infrastructure need, and P3s can be one of the many tools in the toolbox for addressing that need,” Ghoshal said. “We also see that more and more people are starting to recognize that public-private partnerships offer many more benefits other than just low cost.”
