Trump’s infrastructure plan meets urgent need but face resistances

World
Europe

US President Donald Trump is pushing for a trillion dollars infrastructure plan, but it seems there is a bumpy road ahead as some arguing that could burden the country with more debt.

"The framework will generate an unprecedented 1.5-1.7 trillion US dollars investment in American infrastructure," Trump said.

For a long time, the US has been troubled with aging infrastructure that badly needs upgrade. That's why Trump wanted a larger portion of federal budget on construction projects.

One of his infrastructure priorities is bridges. In 2007, an eight-lane highway bridge across the Mississippi River collapsed during evening rush hour. 13 were killed and more than 140 injured. An alarm sounded in the nation with questions – how many of America's bridges are structurally deficient?

According to the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, there are 54,259 bridges structurally deficient, crossed 174 million times each day. And placed end to end, it's said the bridges in need of repair would stretch 1,216 miles almost all the way from New York to Miami, Florida.

There is broad-based, bipartisan support to repair roads and other infrastructure. Trump wants to seize the moment, but may face some obstructions.

In the past, the US Federal Government paid for virtually all infrastructure construction. Now, Trump is proposing to pay 200 billion US dollars over 10 years, meanwhile, providing incentives to get state and local governments combined with the private sector to pay the rest.

US President Trump hosts a meeting with State and local officials about his infrastructure initiative in the State Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US, February 12, 2018. /VCG Photo

“We're gonna have a lot of public and private, and that way it gets done on time, on budget," Trump proposed.

Democrats aren't buying it, saying it will make private contractors rich and saddle the US with more debt.

Besides, Trump plans to jump-start his plan by streamlining the approval process for infrastructure work. Instead of the typical five to 10 years to push a measure through, the US President thinks the time can be shaved down to two years by creating a "one-agency-one-decision" approach.

But Democrats don't like the idea as well. They say it is code for skirting environmental regulations.

In addition, Trump wants to use cash from mineral and energy development on federal lands to pay for some of the cost. And it's not just Democrats digging in their heels.

With difficult mid-term elections this year, many Republicans say they can't support a plan that would add hundreds of billions of dollars to the national debt. And pushing through the legislation in a busy 2018 will be difficult for the Trump administration as a deep congressional divide on how to pay for this has occurred.