House Transportation Chair Describes ‘Political Realities’ of Infrastructure Package
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U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster indicated Tuesday that any federal infrastructure legislation that takes shape could reward states with projects that can happen sooner, rather than later.
WASHINGTON — States that can move projects ahead quickly could have an edge when it comes to benefiting from any federal infrastructure investment package that emerges in the months ahead, the U.S. House transportation committee chairman suggested Tuesday.
If a major infrastructure package takes shape, U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster, a Pennsylvania Republican who chairs the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said a message for states would be: “you’ve got to get those dollars to shovels in the ground, fast."
President Trump has called for a $1 trillion plan to direct public and private investment toward upgrading infrastructure assets around the U.S., such as roads, railways and airports.
Shuster made his comments during an event sponsored by the publication Axios.
Responding to a question about how to get money for new infrastructure investment distributed swiftly to help spur job growth—a priority for Trump—he replied: “Part of that mechanism we have to put in place is to reward states that are going to move very quickly.”
Shuster then described some of the politics in play with the 2018 midterm election on the horizon and the White House and Republicans in Congress pursuing goals such as the repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act, also called Obamacare, and tax reform.
“The realities are the political realities,” he said.
“We’ve got to get something done before next spring,” Shuster added, “whether it’s taxes, Obamacare, or health care reform, or infrastructure spending. Because the House of Representatives and a third of the Senate, they’re going to be on the line.”
Who the Trump administration puts in certain posts, the congressman said, could influence the pace of some infrastructure projects as well. An example he mentioned was the assistant secretary of the Army who oversees the U.S Army Corps of Engineers’ civil works program.
Shuster said his hope is to have an infrastructure bill by this fall.
But he noted this would depend on other factors, like what happens with legislation now moving through the House to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, also spoke at Tuesday’s event.
Citing efforts to change health care laws, a federal hiring freeze, and provisions in the president’s budget proposal that would cut spending by the U.S. Department of Transportation, McAuliffe said Trump “has been a one man wrecking crew to my economy.”
The governor also called Trump’s plan to build a wall on the southern U.S. border with Mexico “a total waste of money.”
Bill Lucia is a Senior Reporter with Government Executive’s Route Fifty and is based in Washington, D.C.
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