Trump’s public works plan coming soon
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration will soon release its longanticipated public works plan, trying to fulfill a campaign pledge but set to fall short of some ambitious goals.
As a candidate, Donald Trump promised to generate at least $1 trillion in infrastructure spending. As president, he is relying on state and local governments to pony up a significant share of the total.
Trump told mayors at the White House this week that he would present his proposal after Tuesday’s State of the Union address.
“We’re also working to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure by stimulating a $1 trillion investment, and that’ll actually probably end up being about $1.7 trillion,” Trump said.
Officials said Washington’s commitment will be far smaller — and the benefits contingent in large part on state and local support.
The administration’s plan calls for $200 billion in federal spending over 10 years, according to a sixpage summary reviewed by the Associated Press.
Details may change
The summary, widely and unofficially disseminated in the capital, is a snapshot of the administration’s thinking. While details may change, the broad outlines are expected to remain the same, according to officials familiar with the document. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the document.
Half the money would go to grants for transportation, water, flood control, cleanup at some of the country’s most polluted sites and other projects.
States, local governments and other project sponsors could use the grants for no more than 20 percent of the cost. That’s consistent with comments from administration officials that they want to use federal dollars as incentives and that most of rest of the money would come from other sources.
The summary also includes $14 billion over 10 years for current programs that use taxpayer money to attract private investment or lower financing costs.
Congress, however, is already bogged down on immigration and the budget, so the prospects seem slim for approving major new spending before the November elections.
One uncertainty is whether project sponsors could combine grant money with other federal sources such as highway and transit aid programs.
Transit agencies generally count on the federal government for half the cost of major construction projects, and federal dollars can make up as much as 80 percent of some highway projects.
Rural projects
One-quarter of the expected total, $50 billion, would go toward rural projects — transportation, broadband, water, waste, power, flood management and ports. That is intended to address criticism from some GOP senators that the administration’s initial emphasis on public-private partnerships would do little to help rural, Republican-leaning states.
Under such financing ventures, private investors generally put up much of the construction costs in exchange for a share of revenue after completion. Toll roads are the most common example. But rural areas usually don’t generate enough traffic to make toll roads or other public work projects profitable.