Democrats’ Platform Supports Big Hike for Infrastructure Spending
Date Posted: August 1, 2016
Posted In: News,
From Engineering News-Record: In her speech accepting the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, Hillary Clinton pledged to seek a job-creation program in her first 100 days in office, including an emphasis on infrastructure.
In her July 28 speech at the party’s convention in Philadelphia, Clinton said she would “work with both parties to pass the biggest investment in new, good-paying jobs since World War II.”
She said that would include jobs in manufacturing, clean energy, technology and infrastructure.” She said, “If we invest in infrastructure now, we’ll not only create jobs today, but lay the foundation for the jobs of the future.”
The party, in its platform, endorsed a major boost in federal infrastructure spending, including highways, transit, water, energy and communications projects. The plan also includes a national infrastructure bank and backs reviving the popular Build America Bonds program.
The party’s 2016 platform, which delegates to its convention adopted on July 25, is strong on pro-infrastructure rhetoric but skimpy on specifics.
But David Bauer, American Road & Transportation Builders Association senior vice president for government relations, points out that details of the Democrats’ infrastructure plan can be found in a proposal that Clinton—a former senator and Secretary of State—released late last year.
Clinton’s plan, unveiled on Nov. 30, proposes to lift federal infrastructure spending by $275 billion over five years. That amount includes $250 billion in direct spending and $25 billion to establish an infrastructure bank to assist transportation, energy, water and broadband projects.
To finance the big jump in infrastructure spending, Clinton would use “business tax reform,” according to her campaign’s summary of the plan.
Under the plan, the infrastructure bank’s initial capital could support as much as $225 billion in loans, loan guarantees or other credit assistance.