Political Conventions Talk Infrastructure
July 28th, 2016 | By: Becky Moylan
In the past two weeks both major U.S. political parties have held conventions to formally nominate a presidential candidate and talk about their respective visions for the country. Here’s how each party handled infrastructure: The Republican Party held its National Convention first in Cleveland, Ohio the week of July 18. While the city was selected as the host in part because of its transit offerings, the GOP’s approved party platform statement is none-too-kind to public transportation infrastructure. The platform’s “America on the Move” section (found on page 4) is the only part that discusses infrastructure at great length. The solution identified to improve the nation’s transportation infrastructure is to take transit funding out of the Highway Trust Fund—an idea that has been attempted and failed in the past—and eliminate the federal transit program. In addition, it states “With most of the states increasing their own funding for transportation, we oppose a further increase in the federal gas tax.” However, it does not offer specifics on how to address the long-term solvency of the Highway Trust Fund. The platform also includes mention of the nation’s waterways and the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule (found on page 18). The position states “We must never allow federal agencies to seize control of state waters, watersheds, or groundwater. State waters, watersheds, and groundwater must be the purview of the sovereign states.” The republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump, has spoken several times over the course of the campaign on the need to invest in the nation ‘s infrastructure. In Mr. Trump’s nomination acceptance speech on Thursday night he specifically referenced the nation’s roads’, bridges’, and airports’ poor condition. During the week’s events, a few speakers did mention infrastructure in passing including actress Kimberlin Brown, however it was not a major focus of anyone’s policy speeches. This week the Democratic Party gathered in Philadelphia for its national convention. The Democratic Party Platform offers far more mentions and details regarding improving the nation’s infrastructure, including a section titled “Building 21st Century Infrastructure” (found on page 7), which specifically calls out the idea of a national infrastructure bank. In other sections of the platform, infrastructure improvements are referenced as a way to increase safety, build a clean energy economy, and strengthened cities. During the convention, several speakers discussed infrastructure, including Flint, Michigan’s Mayor Karen Weaver. During her primary campaign, democratic party presidential nominee Hillary Clinton released a detailed infrastructure plan. Her running mate, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) referenced roads and bridges in his announcement speech saying “Let’s build bridges and roads and airports and ports so people can have jobs.” With our nation’s infrastructure most recently receiving a “D+” GPA, it’s good that both parties have been talking about it.Presidential Candidates Get Infrastructure Questions
March 9th, 2016 | By: Becky Moylan
One of the goals of the Report Card for America’s Infrastructure is to educate policy makers and elected officials on the need to invest in our infrastructure and inspire them to take action. During this presidential election season, many of the candidates have talked about infrastructure. Those conversations are a great sign that Americans are thinking about the importance of infrastructure and the need to improve it and candidates are being asked to share their ideas. In the past week, both the Republicans and Democrats have held debates in Michigan, a state which has been at the forefront of national news regarding water infrastructure over the past several months. In addition to the water infrastructure issues Flint is facing, last year the state legislature finally passed a surface transportation package after many years of inaction and decades of underinvestment. During the Republican Debate, held at the Fox Theater in Detroit—along the route of the streetcar that’s scheduled to open later this year—Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) was asked “Where are the national Republicans’ plans on infrastructure and solving problems like [Flint]?” The Senator answered by discussing the importance of accountability at all levels of government. A few days earlier, Donald Trump talked about infrastructure while answering questions during his Super Tuesday victory speech. During his remarks he commented “You look at the transportation systems they have [around the world] and the trains they have. We’re like a third world country.” The Democratic Debate took place in Flint, the city that has sparked national attention regarding lead in drinking water. Both democratic candidates have put forth infrastructure plans of their own. Several minutes of the debate were dedicated to the state of our nation’s infrastructure. First, Secretary Hillary Clinton was asked if her plan was big enough to tackle the needs. Clinton mentioned that the surface transportation bill finally passed after becoming a far more partisan issue than it should have been. She continued, that she would like to go further by adding an additional $250 billion on top of the FAST Act and creating a National Infrastructure Bank, which she foresees leveraging $25 billion of federal investments into $250 billion for infrastructure projects. Clinton concluded that there’s “no doubt” more needs to be done on our infrastructure from roads to airports to tunnels to water systems. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) was then asked about his $1 trillion proposal. He answered by highlighting the American Society of Civil Engineers’ estimate that $3.6 trillion of investment is needed to improve our infrastructure to a grade of B and pointed out that such investment would put Americans to work in good-paying jobs. Debate questions focusing on infrastructure are a positive indicator that the conversation of infrastructure investment is getting serious attention. It’s also a good reminder that while the FAST Act and state infrastructure legislation are to be applauded, there is still much more that needs to be done to modernize our nation’s infrastructure. You can do something about it right now by educating yourself on presidential candidates’ infrastructure plans and writing your elected leaders about the need to improve infrastructure.
