Region hears upbeat pitch on rebuild
WASHINGTON — The chair of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee told members of the Pittsburgh-area business community on Tuesday that he hopes to move infrastructure legislation by the third week of May, pledging that lawmakers will seize the moment to rebuild the nation’s roads, bridges, waterways, public transit, rail and the power grid in a way that creates opportunities for regions like southwestern Pennsylvania.
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio, DOre., spoke virtually to board members of the Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce and the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, giving the region’s business community a powerful ear just one week after President Joe Biden announced his $2.2 trillion infrastructure plan at a union training center in Collier.
The lunchtime meeting was closed to the public and to the press. A spokesman for the Allegheny Conference, of which the chamber is an affiliate, said that decision was made to allow members to speak openly.
“Today’s event was specifically for our board members to to hear directly from Chairman DeFazio and Congressman [Conor] Lamb about the lay of the land in Washington related to upcoming infrastructure legislation,” Phil Cynar, senior communications specialist for the Allegheny Conference, wrote in an email.
“In that particular kind of setting (and others that are like it), members can share input and help shape matters that impact the region,” he wrote. “The presence of media in such discussions could preclude the
kind of sharing and providing of input that is so valuable to our work to improve the region’s economic future and its quality of life.”
Mr. DeFazio told the audience that Democrats already have a legislative vehicle in the surface transportation bill, which aims to reauthorize the country’s highway program for another five years.
House Democrats last year advanced that bill, called the Invest in America Act, to spend roughly $500 billion over the next five years. The bill pledged funding to: fix the country’s 47,000 structurally deficient bridges; smooth out traffic gridlock; invest more in public transit, Amtrak and electric vehicles; and encourage projects that protect bicyclists and pedestrians.
The two parties could not reach a final agreement, however, so lawmakers extended the program for another year to allow for more time to negotiate. The most recent surface transportation bill, passed in 2016, spent $305 billion without increasing the nation’s gasoline tax.
Mr. DeFazio characterized Mr. Biden’s infrastructure proposal, called the American Jobs Plan, as encompassing many of the same proposals — some more ambitious.
Mr. Biden’s plan calls for $621 billion in transportation infrastructure; $689 billion in community infrastructure such as expanding broadband access and clean drinking water upgrades; and $580 billion in research and development and other priorities.
“This is all going to be very ambitious [and] very expensive — but the upside is it makes the country more competitive, we move people and goods more efficiently and we create millions of jobs,” Mr. DeFazio said. He pointed to a Moody’s Analytics analysis that projected the plan would create 2.7 million jobs over 10 years.
U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb, DMt. Lebanon, a member of the House committee, helped to arrange the meeting. Mr. DeFazio, who visited Pittsburgh in 2019 to tour Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority facilities, credited Mr. Lamb for bringing inland waterways issues, like locks and dams, to his attention.
The meeting came hours after the Senate parliamentarian apparently ruled that Democrats, who hold narrow majorities in the House and Senate, can use the budget reconciliation process to advance the infrastructure legislation without any GOP votes. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., announced the ruling Monday.
In an interview after the meeting, Mr. Lamb said Democrats were still working to get Republican support for as many measures as possible. Proposals around physical infrastructure, like roads, bridges and broadband, generate the most bipartisan agreement.
“There are a lot of different moving pieces right now, and the decision of how they get arranged on the board has not been fully made,” Mr. Lamb said. “We’ve taken some small swings at [it], but we haven’t really hit any home runs yet.”
“I’m in discussions with Republicans in the House and there’s interest in getting something done,” Mr. Lamb added. “My viewpoint is we should maximize our efforts and go the extra mile to see if we can get some Republican votes on board.
“If the Republicans decide that they’re just against everything we want to do — which they sometimes do — you might see one large Democratic package, kind of like the rescue plan.”
Matt Smith, president of the Pittsburgh-area chamber, said in an interview that his members don’t support the corporate tax hike to pay for the plan. Mr. Biden proposed raising the corporate rate to 28% from 21%, partially undoing the 2017 GOP tax cuts that lowered the rate from 35%.
Mr. Smith said members during the call asked Mr. DeFazio about the variety of projects that could be included in federal funding programs, including waterways and water infrastructure and investment in research and innovation. One question related to Mr. Biden’s plan to establish a global minimum tax on U.S. companies and how that would work, but Mr. Lamb said it was too early to get into details.
“Pittsburgh is well-positioned to not only receive the infrastructure but become a national model,” he said.
Mr. Lamb said some Republicans support generating revenue by improving tax enforcement to capture the hundreds of billions that go uncollected by the IRS each year. Some Republicans support expanding user fees that feed federal trust funds, and Mr. Lamb said he would be willing to have that conversation in tandem with adjustments to the corporate rate.
“For a package of this size, you’re going to have to fund it in a few different ways,” Mr. Lamb said.