Infrastructure plan's principles tucked in Trump budget proposal

Trump budget proposal hints at not helping local governments fund infrastructure

Late May saw the unveiling of President Donald Trump’s much anticipated FY18 budget, which detailed his vision for discretionary funding throughout the various agencies that comprise the federal government.  It wasn’t all just numbers, however, as policy recommendations were included for specific areas, in addition to the typical funding amounts.  One such policy document contained in this budget was the introduction of a fact sheet detailing his cornerstone ideas for a new infrastructure plan. 

The White Paper, titled Infrastructure Initiative, focused on four core principles which will be expanded by the administration, and eventually Congress, to craft legislation designed to improve the nation’s infrastructure.

The first principle seeks to identify specific projects, impressive in nature, that would benefit large population areas and presumably their economies as well.  This would seem to align with the president’s calling out some transportation hubs by name during his campaign, like New York’s LaGuardia Airport, as an example of current infrastructure in dire need of attention and rehabilitation.

Another principle seeks to realign certain public entities for privatization.  An early example of this idea is the current push in the administration and by some in Congress to privatize the nation’s air-traffic control system.  Another idea includes the sale of some government properties to the private sector as a source of revenue generation.

 President Trump does not need to look far down Pennsylvania Avenue to point to the merits of this idea.  The new Trump International Hotel in Washington sits in what was once known as The Old Post Office Pavilion, a government-owned building vacant for years, costing taxpayers for upkeep and maintenance.  When the Trump corporation beat out other hoteliers such as Hilton and Starwood for the lease, it became a profitable entity for the federal government through lease terms. 

 A third principle seeks to leverage the private sector in the form of public-private partnerships. This has long been promoted within the halls of Congress as a way for private dollars to build infrastructure, and collecting a return on the investment through tolls on lanes and bridges, for example. 

While the administration conceded public-private partnerships will not be the solution to all infrastructure needs, it claims they “can help advance the nation’s most important, regionally significant projects.”

Most troubling, however to county governments, is the second principle in the document, titled “Encourage Self-Help.”

This notion builds upon the administration’s desire to force local governments to come up with their own funding, without help from Washington.  This would strain the successful federal-state-local partnership in infrastructure that has been a bedrock for decades and place a debilitating burden on the backs of residents in the form of new taxes and degraded infrastructure. 

The document went on to list examples of new revenue generators, which could include expanding current financial instruments such as Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation (TIFIA) loans or lifting the cap on private activity bonds to include public infrastructure eligibility as well as encouraging states and localities to toll existing roadways and encourage private investment within highway rest areas.

As far as a funding amount, the paper states that $200 billion would be the dedicated federal investment in this initiative.  However, no specifics as to what the money can be spent on or how it would be distributed, has been released.

While this White Paper, much like the budget it accompanied, is merely a set of principles that have yet to be expanded, it should give county leaders pause as they attempt to come to grips with a new infrastructure reality from Washington, a reality that critical funding that has flowed in the past could dry up sooner than anyone thinks.