Sign Now: Demand a public and accountable investment in infrastructure that fully funds the needs of U.S. communities.
Sign Now: Demand a public and accountable investment in infrastructure that fully funds the needs of U.S. communities.
Most public investments in infrastructure―building roads, bridges, transportation systems, water and sewer systems―are funded by federal, state and local governments and their construction and maintenance are overseen by democratically accountable governments. Research shows that public investments accelerate productivity growth, providing the potential for pay increases for working people.
But Donald Trump’s apparent approach to infrastructure investment is to make a token federal commitment, put a heavier burden on already-stretched state governments and invite private developers in to receive subsidies. Worse, the Trump administration has already announced one specific plank of their infrastructure plan: under-funding the Highway Trust Fund by $140 billion over the next decade. The result is likely to be very little boost to actual infrastructure investment, further pressure on state governments and the opportunity for private-sector profiteering.
Stand with EPI and demand a public infrastructure commitment that invests in our communities at scale and doesn’t just provide subsidies to private developers.
To: All Members of Congress
A federal infrastructure plan should prioritize services to the public that are available to all of us as basic rights―such as safe drinking water. Early versions of Donald Trump’s infrastructure plan instead proposed public-private infrastructure partnerships that would provide no efficiency gains, and would open up many avenues of crony capitalism, corruption and rampant inequality of public investments across communities. Recently-leaked plans detailing the Trump approach are little better, kicking responsibility for infrastructure investment to states and providing loan guarantees to private developers. We call on Congress to make a real investment in public infrastructure, not abdicate federal responsibility for financing while handing ownership of these investments to private investors.