When the Philadelphia Inquirer asked Governor Rendell and the panel assembled at the Building America's Future: America at a Crossroads on Aug. 10 at the Central Pennsylvania College about funding the initiative. he and the panel gave several thoughtful and some generic answers.
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What exactly are we talking about? This means roads, bridges, sewage systems, waste water treatment plants, as well as energy generation and distribution. What kinds of number are we talking about? According to the American Society of Civil Engineers Infrastructure Report Card, the cost is $2.2 trillion dollars.
Bill Stout, CEO of Camp Hill based Gannett Fleming told the audience that "we are spending less than half of what is needed. We need $245 billion per year to meet the existsing demands."
Transportation Secretay LaHood, who joined the conferrence via a live video feed mentioned several options, including:
- Creating and funding a national infrastructure bank.
- Using the Highyway Trust Fund
- Expanding Tollling
- Public/Private partnerships
Governor Rendell raised the issue of raising the federal gasoline tax from its $.03/gallon to $.10/gallon. He also mentioned that we are spending $2.0 per day in Iqaq and Afghanistan.
Later in the session, former Speaker of the House, Richard Gephart mentioned creating a national captital budget as part of the federal budet. Gephart commented, "all companies, states and municipal entities all have cpatial budgets that are separate from their opeprating expenses. Why should the federal budget be expempt?"
"The good thing about a National Infrastructure Bank, as it is currently conceived is that the decision making would be taken out of the hands of politicians. This would ensure long term decision making and planning, which would encourage private investment. The challenge to this is that the same politicians that would be giving up their ability to bring home money in the form of local projects would be the ones to authorize such an institution."
"Either would be a good solution'" he continued.
The National Inrastructure Bank, which is being promoted by the Building America's Future coalition, headed by Marsha Hale sees this as a new model that could:
- Provide incentives to undertake multi-state efforts to address major infrastructure needs.
- Enable federal assistance at a significant enough scale to make major projects financially viable.
- Enables merit-based selection of projects sot aht the most critical and feassable projects are funded.
- Creates a method for private capital to be included in these projects so that federal/state/city dollars are maximized.
It is not seen as only serving the transportation industry, but could include authority to support ports, rails (freight and passenger), drining and waste water needs, electrical grid, broadband and school construction.
Their plan includes an initial funding through the Genral Fund of at least $25 billion with other source of funding from:
- All of some of the interest collected from TARP funding repayments.
- Reallocation of unused ARRA funding.
- A percentage of revenue collected from a carbon cap and trade program.
- A six-year refromed transportation bill.
- Private invetments through financing mechanisms.
The fact that republicans and democats are involved in Building America's Future is a positive sign. We will be following this organiztion and issue. I'd like to think that common sense and common ground would prevail in the formation of a National Infrastructure Bank and a National Capitol budget that would contribute to this critical investment.
Poliltically, Paul Ryan is making news on his Road Map for America's Future have emerged with independent and common sense approaches to our financial quagmire.
Robert L. Sayre
Editor-In-Chief, President
Empowered Municipaltiy
