America invests less in infrastructure than its peers, a new report for the U.S. Congress’ Joint Economic Committee (JEC) released Wednesday said.
And infrastructure spending is substantially lower than what it used to be, the report said.
As a result, the county’s infrastructure is “dangerously overstretched” and in a state of disrepair, hurting not only workers and businesses but also the U.S. ability to compete globally, the report said.
The JEC, led by U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA), said in the report that the U.S. needs to make “big, bold investments” into its physical and human infrastructure for future economic growth. Currently, the report said, American is 55t in health infrastructure globally. The country is also 9t in education infrastructure, 17t in quality of road infrastructure, 23r in electricity supply quality, and 30 in water supply reliability, the report said. Because of this, in 2019, the World Economic Forum downgraded U.S. economic competitiveness, the report said.
“Our nation is falling behind because our infrastructure is falling apart,” Beyer said. “When Americans are waiting hours in traffic to get to work, schools have to close because their water fountains are connected to lead pipes, students have to go to McDonald’s to use Wi-Fi, and parents have to leave the workforce because they cannot afford child care, then our nation is not as strong as it could be, or as strong as other competing nations.”
Low interest rates and low employment levels make invest in infrastructure now more cost-efficient, the report said. Additionally, the jobs created by infrastructure investments would help those most impacted by the pandemic.
“We must meet the demands of the moment by making once-in-a-century investments in our nation’s physical and human infrastructure, the type of investments included in President Biden’s American Jobs Plan and American Families Plan,” Beyer said. “These plans will allow even more Americans to thrive in their communities, especially those in communities that were last in line for infrastructure projects of the past – or, even worse – intentionally impaired by them.”
The JEC said it would be releasing further fact sheets on various aspects of infrastructure in the coming months.