DeLauro Calls For A National Infrastructure Bank And A Major Investment In American Jobs
NORTH BRANFORD, CT (August 12, 2016) — (RealEstateRama) — Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) today visited Tilcon Connecticut in to call for the creation of a National Infrastructure Bank. DeLauro has introduced legislation to create such a program, which would help finance the nation’s most critical infrastructure projects, while also creating good paying jobs repairing roads, building bridges, and creating safer and more modern water projects.
“The infrastructure our government provides—the bridges we drive on, the water systems we use, the rails we ride—is in desperate need of investment. Emergencies like train derailments, power blackouts, and lead poisoning tragedy in Flint, Michigan, are stark reminders of what is at stake when it comes to investment in our infrastructure,” said Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro. “We cannot continue to turn our attention to critical infrastructure only when disaster strikes—we must make long-term, pro-growth investments now to prevent further tragedies from happening. With a National Infrastructure Bank, we can fund these projects, while also making an investment in our economy by adding good paying jobs.”
Investing in infrastructure has become a central theme in this year’s election, with both presidential candidates releasing infrastructure and jobs plans. Regardless of who will become the next President of the United States, she/he is expected to make a major investment in our nation’s infrastructure.
The American Society of Civil Engineers’ last report card in 2013 gave America’s infrastructure a D+ and suggests that a $3.6 trillion investment is needed in the next five years just to bring our infrastructure systems up to adequate conditions. In Connecticut, nearly 1 out of 10 bridges are structurally deficient and 41 percent of the major roads are in poor condition.
DeLauro has introduced the National Infrastructure Development Act in every Congress since 1994. The legislation would create and fund a public bank to leverage private dollars from institutional investors, such as pension funds, to supplement current funding for meritorious infrastructure projects of national or regional significance. Eligible projects include highways, roads, bridges, transit systems, airports, high speed rail, and freight rail. The bank could also finance environmental projects, which would include drinking water and wastewater systems, dams, levees, and industrial site cleanup.
At today’s event, DeLauro was joined by John Daddona, Apprenticeship Coordinator for the Operating Engineers Local 478; Don Shubert, President of the Connecticut Construction Industry Association; and Gary Wall, General Manager of Tilcon Connecticut. Tilcon Connecticut, which provides heavy and highway construction and paving services for state and local construction projects, is one of the many Connecticut companies that would benefit from the creation of a National Infrastructure bank.
