The Trump administration unveiled an infrastructure plan today that would invest $200 billion in federal funds to be used in conjunction with private and state spending. Associations related to the US steel industry commented on the plans, which will move to Congress for a vote.
Thomas J. Gibson, president and CEO of the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), said: “We welcome the president’s framework for rebuilding infrastructure in America. Transportation infrastructure facilitates broad economic growth and directly impacts the competitiveness of the domestic steel industry. We strongly support the streamlining of permits for new infrastructure projects as a key tenet of the plan. We also reiterate our call that Congress provide for increased, long-term funding to ensure the solvency of the Highway Trust Fund. The steel industry appreciates the president’s commitment to enhancing American manufacturing and preserving steel industry jobs, and we look forward to working with him on this critical issue.”
The CEO of the Associated General Contractors of America, Stephen E. Sandherr, commented: “The President has outlined a needed and thought-provoking proposal to rebuild and improve the nation’s aging and over-burdened public infrastructure. The details of this proposal are important and many, including this association, will seek changes to further improve upon the President’s concept. Yet the most significant aspect of today’s release is that it signals the start of what should be a timely, bipartisan and bicameral process to identify the best ways to fund and finance desperately needed improvements to our public infrastructure.
“At the same time, as the President’s own proposal makes clear, Congress must identify ways to address chronic funding shortfalls affecting the federal Highway Trust Fund that have put needed highway, bridge and transit improvements at risk too many times during the past decade. And Congress must also identify effective and long-term ways to fund other infrastructure improvements that are just as vital to our continued economic success as is the surface transportation program.”