Plan would invest in infrastructure by cutting funding to other transportation and infrastructure programs, place burden for funding on states and municipalities, gut core environmental protections
Washington (February 12, 2018) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of both the Environment and Public Works Committee and the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, which have jurisdiction over an infrastructure bill, today blasted President Donald Trump’s infrastructure proposal. Despite promising the American public $1.5 trillion of infrastructure investment, the administration’s legislative outline would commit a mere $200 billion of direct federal investment. President Trump is proposing to pay for this investment by cutting other core transportation and infrastructure programs like Amtrak, federal transit grants, public housing, and the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program. The plan would also gut bedrock environmental protections, limiting the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to review, modify or block environmentally harmful projects.
Today, Senator Markey held a press conference in Boston with the Massachusetts Municipal Association and Transportation for Massachusetts to highlight the harm the infrastructure plan would do to Massachusetts.
“President Trump’s infrastructure plan is one big monetary mirage,” said Senator Markey. “It sells Main Street to Wall Street through so-called public-private partnerships and relies on cash-strapped states and municipalities to bear the burden for financing infrastructure projects. And Trump’s plan to cut transportation and infrastructure programs in order to fund other transportation and infrastructure programs is fiscal folly. That’s robbing Peter to pay Paul when we need both at work paving our roads. This proposal also is an environmental deregulation package in disguise, undermining our bedrock environmental laws and ignoring climate change. We should use an infrastructure bill to double-down on our commitment to lead the world into the next era of clean energy technologies and fortify our communities as they combat the impacts of climate change.
“Only robust federal investment will fix our bridges, repair our highways, rebuild Massachusetts’s schools, and address our nation’s water infrastructure, broadband, waterway, and public transportation needs,” continued Senator Markey. “Democrats want to work with President Trump on infrastructure, but not to impose new Trump tolls or fees on the middle class. I will fight for a legislative package that relies on direct federal spending and modernizes America’s infrastructure, protects the environment, and supports our workforce.”
“In order to increase our investment at the state level to get the crumbs outlined in the President’s plan, Massachusetts would have to cut funding for other vital programs—social service programs, economic development programs, infrastructure programs,” said Geoff Beckwith, Executive Director and CEO, Massachusetts Municipal Association. “What we need is a president and a federal government to provide a strong cable of support that can pull us up and help support and leverage true and real investment. Unfortunately the plan that is being unveiled today is a thread that actually will not be able to lift much up at all.”
“The Trump infrastructure proposal doesn’t grow the pie for transportation revenues – it simply cuts the existing pie differently, and leaves less for Massachusetts,” said Chris Dempsey, Director, Transportation for Massachusetts.
In September 2017, Senator Markey joined his Senate and House Democratic colleagues in releasing a proposal to invest $40 billion in federal funding to finally connect every American to high-speed broadband.
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