Trump tries new approach for $1T infrastructure plan
As a presidential candidate in 2016, Donald Trump promised a $1 trillion infrastructure plan that would use tax incentives to spur private investment in public works projects.
He has so far failed to persuade Congress to pass anything like that.
In another election year, Trump has outlined a new $1 trillion plan for spending on roads, rails, water systems and other infrastructure. This time, the president is proposing to rely fully on federal spending. That fundamental change from his first plan drew praise from some state transportation officials and industry groups, even though Trump doesn’t spell out how to pay for it all.
Since outlining his budget proposal last week, Trump has done little to promote his new infrastructure plan. A politically divided Congress has no obligation to consider it. In fact, Trump’s prior infrastructure proposals all stalled, even when Republicans controlled both the House and Senate.
Some Republicans already are lowering expectations.
“The Republican House version of the bill won’t be a trillion dollars, I can tell you that right now,” said U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, the ranking GOP member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. “It will be a lot farther south than that.”
Trump’s retooled infrastructure plan relies on existing fuel tax revenue to cover much of the cost. That allows him to include billions of dollars worth of projects that likely would have happened no matter who was president.
White House budget documents show that Trump’s plan lacks revenue sources for almost half the $1 trillion amount — about $450 billion proposed for roads and bridges, public transit, rails, ports, pipelines, dams, drinking water and sewer systems, and electrical and high-speed internet networks.
The proposal is “a fantastic development” that “would be a great shot in the arm for infrastructure improvements in this country,” said Dean Franks, head lobbyist for the American Road and Transportation Builders Association. But he added, “How to pay for it is always the big question.”
Improving the nation’s infrastructure has been one of the few policy areas touted by both parties. But such talk has yet to result in action.
Last year, for example, Trump and Democratic congressional leaders temporarily agreed to work toward a $2 trillion infrastructure plan that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said “would be big and bold.” But that disintegrated as House Republicans raised concerns about cost, Trump declared a new North American trade deal a higher priority and Democrats pursued impeachment.
For Trump, a $1 trillion target has remained a focal point of his infrastructure plan, even as the way to pay for it has evolved.
The goal traces back to one-upmanship of former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who in 2016 had proposed spending and loans that she projected would generate about $500 billion for infrastructure. Asked for details about his own plan in August 2016, Trump told Fox Business: “Well, I would say at least double her numbers.” When pressed on how he would pay for it, Trump replied, “We would do infrastructure bonds.”
During an October 2016 speech in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Trump provided new details and included infrastructure in his “100day action plan to make American great again.” He said he would leverage “public-private partnerships and private investments through tax incentives to spur $1 trillion in infrastructure investment over the next 10 years.”