Modernizing Infrastructure is Important to All Americans

Floor Speech

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Ms. PLASKETT. Mr. Speaker, like many Members of Congress, I came determined to increase long-term Federal investment in infrastructure.

Supporting the movement of people, goods, energy, and information through our infrastructure is crucial to driving investment in our communities and maintaining America's economic competitiveness.

Modernizing our infrastructure is important to Americans in every part of the country. We know that infrastructure projects are consistently evaluated as the best return on government investment.

As a member of the New Democratic Coalition, we believe any new proposal must include new revenue, new financing, new funding, and regulatory streamlining and encourage lifecycle funding in innovative infrastructure projects that are built to last.

As chair of the New Democrat Coalition Infrastructure Task Force and a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, I believe that there should be four pillars for infrastructure deals. Those include revenue funding.

I support securing dedicated, sustainable revenue to keep the Highway Trust Fund solvent well into the future and increasing Federal investment that is not looted for other purposes.

We need a variety of funding options, including mileage-based user fees; raising or indexing the gas tax; user fees on electric vehicles or batteries to create parity with gasoline-powered vehicles; slightly increasing the corporate tax rate and dedicating the incremental revenue gains toward infrastructure, both expanded and new bond programs.

We must think strategically and use lifecycle cost analysis to account for the operating and maintenance needs of an asset across its entire lifecycle. Thus, we will help guard against deferred maintenance.

I support investing seed capital to capitalize an infrastructure bank that would leverage its funds for everything from roads, to water, to broadband projects. The bank would be accessible to States, localities, and regional groups and would be able to loan them money with favorable terms as well as offer bond insurance.

I and the task force support grant programs that would specifically target areas in desperate need of revitalizing their infrastructure, including those recovering from natural disasters, communities with higher rates of unemployment and poverty, and rural areas. That means new avenues to fund infrastructure projects in communities that have been left behind and in areas that traditionally struggle to attract infrastructure funding for projects that have holistic community support.

The task force recognizes the importance of continued regulatory streamlining in a way that balances expedited construction with appropriate environmental and safety safeguards. The administration must work to implement the numerous streamlining provisions already passed into law by Congress in the FAST Act transportation bill.

In addition, I support encouraging the use of regional partnerships and public-private partnerships.

We must also think about broadband and realize that this is the new transportation of the 21st century, making sustainable and innovative public and private investments across the U.S. to repair and upgrade existing assets and build vital new projects.

We must seek to support projects that help communities become more energy efficient, resilient, and better prepared to deal with the impact of climate change and environmental cleanup.

Finally, we must seek to give communities ownership of local development and encourage innovation, regulatory streamlining, and more comprehensive multiproject long-term planning.

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