Leaders of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee will hold hearings next month on the Trump Administration’s infrastructure plan, which calls for parlaying $200 billion in direct federal investments in $1.5 trillion total spending.
U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-SD) and Bill Nelson (D-FL), the committee’s chairman and ranking member, announced plans on Monday to hold a series of hearings in March on the infrastructure plan and forthcoming infrastructure legislation.
“Through this guidance and letting Congress have the opportunity to write bipartisan legislation, President Trump has offered us direction to meet infrastructure needs in our nation’s states, cities, and rural communities,” Thune said. “Aligning federal infrastructure funding with local priorities and looking at other impediments to building would increase accountability and help us meet our most critical infrastructure needs faster.”
State and local governments would be expected to match federal funding at a four-to-one ratio under the infrastructure plan, but sales tax levied for transportation projects and other sources of existing funding sources could count toward state and local contributions. The plan would use $100 billion to incentivize local governments, $20 billion for “projects of national significance” and $50 billion for rural block grants.
“Modernizing our transportation and communication networks is something we all agree the U.S. desperately needs in order to create more jobs and maintain our leadership in the global economy,” Nelson said. “We need to make real investments — not cuts — in Florida and communities around the country. That’s why I plan to work with Chairman Thune and my colleagues on the Senate Commerce Committee to try to come up with a bill that can garner broad support and include ideas from both parties.”