Horowitz: It’sTime to Get Serious about Fixing our Infrastructure
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Tuesday, May 12, 2015
Rob Horowitz, GoLocalWorcester MINDSETTER™
In case you weren’t aware, this week is Infrastructure Week. More than 80 organizations including the Chamber of Commerce and AFL-CIO are descending upon Washingtonfor the third year in a row to highlight the critical importance of investingin and modernizing America’sinfrastructure systems, and the essential role infrastructure plays inour economy.”
The essential, but neglected task, of maintaining and upgrading our roads, bridges, airports electrical grid, sewer systems, and public transit, is a rareissue that unites business and labor. Both support substantially increasedfunding across the board with the most immediate priority of replenishing the Highway Trust Fund, either by boosting the 18.4 cents a gallon gas tax that is now insufficient even to fund road repairs or finding an alternative permanentsupplementary funding source. Right now, the Congressional Budget Officeprojects a $170 billion shortfall over the next 10 years for the Highway Trust Fund, according to The Hill. And without Congressional action, the fund runs out of money this year at the end of this month.
The American Society of Civil Engineers(ASCE) estimates that $3.6 trillionof investment across the board is needed by 2020 to make USinfrastructure safe and dependable. In their most recent report card, they giveUS infrastructureas a whole a nearly a nearly failing “D+” grade.
As anyone who travels on our roads or flies knows, to remain competitiveeconomically we must make dramatic improvements. In a global economy, where therapid movement of people and goods is essential to economic success we continueto fall behind.
Further, investingin infrastructure creates good paying jobs. As Joseph Kane and Robert Puentespoint out in a recent analysis done for the Brookings Institution,“infrastructure jobs usually represent long-term, well-paid opportunities forthe two-thirds of U.S.workers who lack four-year college degrees.” The authors assert that these jobs pay up to30% more than other jobsavailable to low income workers.
Given the pressing need and the strong support of key interest groups onewould think that it would be a ‘no-brainer’ for Congress to boostinfrastructure funding. Yet, because new revenue is needed, every year,including this one, it is an adventure just to plug the holes in The HighwayFund. There is some hope, however, forbreaking the log jam. Bi-partisan support for new sources of revenue, such asthe ‘Repatriation Tax’ proposed by Senators Rand Paul(R-KY0 and Barbara Boxer(D-CA) and backed by President Obama , isincreasing. The Repatriation Tax would be a tax on overseas profits broughtback into the country.
Another idea whose time may be coming is forming a National InfrastructureBank, using initial public seed monies to leverage private investment. This is an Obama Administration proposal,which has attracted some Republican support.
The time is now to stop talking about the need to repair our aging infrastructure and tomake the smart investments so long overdue. Here’s to hoping that some time inthe near future we won’t need Infrastructure Week to get Congress to performthis most basic and essential of tasks.
Rob Horowitz is a strategic and communications consultant who provides general consulting, public relations, direct mail services and polling for national and state issue organizations, various non-profits and elected officials and candidates. He is an Adjunct Professor of Political Science at University of Rhode Island.
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Senator Michael Moore
Senator Moore, D-Millbury, serves as the Massachusetts Senate Vice-Chair on the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security.
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Matt Beaton- Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs
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Worcester City Manager Ed Augustus
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Mike O'Brien
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Senator Ryan Fattman
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Tim Murray
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Senator Harriet Chandler
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Lt. Governor Karyn Polito
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Congressman Jim McGovern
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