The Center for American Progress recently released a report listing benchmarks for judging any comprehensive, progressive infrastructure package.
“Any progressive infrastructure plan must put the country on a clear path toward a clean energy economy,” Alison Cassady, the report’s co-author and managing director of Energy and Environment Policy, said. “Working families and communities on the front lines of climate change should sit at the center of any plan to transform our economy at the scale and pace necessary to rise to the challenge of the climate crisis.”
Any infrastructure package must have four characteristics to be considered successful.
The United States has a more than $2 trillion funding gap between infrastructure and expected spending over the next decade, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers. Any package must provide at least $1 trillion in federal infrastructure spending above the baseline after being adjusting for inflation.
A package must also provide funding for multiple sectors, move toward clean energy, boost workers’ wages and benefits, and target communities with the greatest need.
Federal infrastructure spending on surface transportation is currently through the Highway Trust Fund. The fund is expected to be insolvent by 2022 and will have a $159 billion shortfall for fiscal years 2022 through 2029.