Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, recently sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, urging the Trump Administration to address the problems with long-term infrastructure funding.
During his presidential campaigning, Donald Trump proposed the privatization of public infrastructure assets, underwritten by taxpayers. In March, he proposed to strip infrastructure grant programs.
“The President makes bold claims when it comes to infrastructure, but that talk has not yet been met with action,” Wyden said. “The few proposals the president has put forward are concerning and wrong-headed. Privatization will not solve our infrastructure problems. Gutting federal grant programs will not solve our infrastructures problems. America doesn’t need gimmicks, it needs solutions.”
Public-private partnerships should be implemented with proper oversight for the right kinds of projects, Wyden said, but they cannot be relied upon for routine maintenance.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates private investment will account for 1.5 percent of all investment by 2047.
The CBO also forecasts the Highway Trust Fund will be insolvent in 2021.
Wyden and Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) introduced the Move America Act of 2015 in May 2015.
The bill would have created a new infrastructure tax credit and expanded tax-exempt private activity bonds.