Infrastructure

Highlights

• Donald Trump broke his campaign promise to make infrastructure a legislative priority.
  • Trump claimed he was the only one who could fix America’s infrastructure.
  • Trump’s infrastructure proposals failed to gain traction.
    • The Trump administration declared seven failed “infrastructure weeks.”
• Donald Trump broke his campaign promise to invest $1 trillion into American infrastructure.
  • In his first term, Trump’s budget proposals hurt infrastructure funding.
    • In 2018, the fiscal year budget cast doubt on Trump’s promise on infrastructure by cutting funding.
    • In 2019, according to Trump administration officials, the fiscal year budget included a “$1.5 trillion” investment in infrastructure, but only $200 billion in “new” federal funding, shifting the cost to states and private entities.
    • In 2020, the fiscal year budget failed to adequately address America’s decrepit infrastructure.
  • Trump backed off his campaign promise that the private sector would help pay for an infrastructure package.
  • Skepticism of Trump’s infrastructure plan contributed to declining U.S. growth.
• Under Donald Trump, the state of America’s infrastructure did not improve.
  • The American Society of Civil Engineers gave the nation’s infrastructure a D+ grade.
  • Trump failed to improve airport infrastructure.
    • Airports had more than $128 billion in infrastructure needs.
    • Trump proposed privatizing air traffic control, but critics said Trump’s proposal could make flying less safe.
  • The American Road and Transportation Builders Association said 47,000 bridges were “structurally deficient” and the pace of bridge repair slowed under Trump.
    • The rate of repair on America’s bridges slowed to the lowest point in five years.
    • Trump campaigned on repairing the Brent Space Bridge, but failed to get it done.
  • America’s water infrastructure received a D grade, with Trump’s funding cuts further limiting access to clean water.
    • Trump froze EPA grants that funded water infrastructure programs.
  • Under Trump, neglected highways and roadways continued to pose an increasing safety risk.
    • Experts stated that delays in infrastructure improvements contributed to fatality rates.
  • Trump campaigned on expanding broadband, but as president, he failed to improve rural access.
    • Trump claimed his infrastructure plan would include expanded access to broadband.
  • Thirty-nine percent of rural Americans, 23 million people, did not have access to high-speed internet.
    • Trump signed two executive orders that fell short when it came to getting rural Americans online.
    • Trump administration deregulations and initiatives made it easier for broadband providers to charge consumers more and subsidized monopolies in rural areas.
• Donald Trump broke his promise to make Infrastructure a legislative priority. He claimed he was the only one who could fix America's infrastructure:
  
  Trump: America’s Infrastructure Problem Can Be Fixed “Only By Me.” 
• In His 2018 State Of The Union, Trump Asked “Both Parties To Come Together” To “Build Gleaming New Roads, Bridges, Highways.” 
• Trump infrastructure proposals failed to gain traction:
• April 2019: The Trump Administration Had Already Declared Seven Failed “Infrastructure Weeks.” 
• Trump Turned Down The Opportunity To Develop A Bipartisan $2 Trillion Infrastructure Plan
• April 2019: Democrats Met With Trump To Develop A Bipartisan $2 Trillion Infrastructure Agreement, Stating The Legislations Was “Big And Bold.” 
• May 2019: Trump Abruptly canceled a Meeting With Democratic Congressional Leaders On The Bipartisan Infrastructure Plan Stating That He Would Not Work With Them Until Their “Phony Investigations” Were Over. 
• Trump Broke His Campaign Promise To Invest $1 Trillion Into American Infrastructure
• October 2016: Trump Campaign Advisers Peter Navarro And Wilbur Ross Drew Up An Infrastructure Plan That Would Finance $1 Trillion In Spending. 
• IN HIS FIRST TERM, TRUMP’S BUDGET PROPOSALS HURT INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDING 
• 2018: The Fiscal Year Budget Cast Doubt On Trump’s Promise On Infrastructure By Cutting Funding
• Trump’s $1 Trillion Plan To Rebuild American Infrastructure Was Undermined By Trump Budget Proposal’s $55 Billion Cut to Infrastructure Spending. 
• Trump’s 2018 Infrastructure Plan Called For A $1.5 Trillion Boost To Infrastructure Spending, But Proposed Just $200 Billion In Federal Funding.
• Trump’s FY 2018 Budget Proposal Cut The Department Of Transportation’s Budget By $2.4 Billion Or 13%, Wiping Out Resources For New Transit Projects. 
• The Budget Terminated Funding For Amtrak’s Long-Haul Services, Cut A Program That Provided Grants For Rural Airports, And Called For A Limit To Federal Funding For An Infrastructure Grant Program. 
• Trump’s 2019 Budget Cut Annual Federal Support For Infrastructure And Shifted Costs To States, Cities, And Private Individuals. 
• Trump’s Budget Saw Cuts To Core Infrastructure Funding Including $164 Billion In Cuts To The Highway Trust Fund And TIGER Grants. 
• Trump Promised To Invest $200 Billion In Infrastructure, But In His 2020 Budget Proposal He Cut Army Corp Of Engineers By 22%, Transportation By 20%, And Interior Department By Nearly 10%. 
• TRUMP BACKED OFF OF HIS CAMPAIGN PROMISE THAT THE PRIVATE SECTOR WOULD HELP PAY FOR AN INFRASTRUCTURE PACKAGE
• Trump Campaigned On Private Sector Funding To Pay For Infrastructure Improvements 
• Trump Campaigned On Private Sector Funding To Finance Infrastructure Improvements. 
• September 26, 2017: Trump Said He Would Abandon Private Financing As A Strategy. 
• SKEPTICISM OF TRUMP’S INFRASTRUCTURE PLAN CONTRIBUTED TO DECLINING U.S GROWTH 
• The IMF Reduced Forecast For U.S. Growth Due To The Trump Administration’s Inaction On Infrastructure
• The International Monetary Fund Reduced Its Forecast For U.S. Growth 
• TRUMP FAILED TO IMPROVE AIRPORT INFRASTRUCTURE
• Airports Council International Stated That American Airports Required More Than $128 Billion In New Infrastructure Needs Between 2019 And 2023. According to the Airports Council International, “With America’s airports facing more than $128 billion in new infrastructure needs across the system and a debt burden of $91.6 billion from past projects, it is time to find the means to rebuild our nation’s aviation infrastructure and improve the passenger experience for millions of travelers.
• The Existing Funding System Failed To Meet U.S. Airport Infrastructure Needs For Modernizing And Expanding Airport Capacity. According to the Airports Council International, “The infrastructure development cost estimate for 2019-2023 shows an increase of 34.0 percent from the estimate for 2017-2021 for large, medium, and small hub airports combined, and a 4.3 percent increase for non-hubs and non-commercial service airports.
• As Part Of Infrastructure Week, Trump Released A Plan To Privatize Air Traffic Control. According to NBC News, “But the president’s endorsement of a proposal to privatize air traffic control by detaching it from the FAA — announced in June 2017 as part of a larger week of infrastructure-related events at the White House — has been stalled since day one.
• Chris Elliot, Consumer Airline Advocate, Said Trump’s “Efforts To Deregulate These Federal Agencies Like The FAA Might Create Less Safe Airlines.” According to NBC News, “‘I haven’t seen any evidence that the White House has done anything to improve airline safety or get strict with airline safety,’ consumer airline advocate Chris Elliott told NBC News, noting that previous years were safe, too.
• THE AMERICAN ROAD AND TRANSPORTATION BUILDERS ASSOCIATION: 47,000 BRIDGES WERE “STRUCTURALLY DEFICIENT” AND THE PACE OF BRIDGE REPAIR SLOWED UNDER TRUMP 
• The American Road And Transportation Builders Association’s 2019 Bridge Report Stated That 47,000 Bridges Are “Structurally Deficient.”
• 19.4% Of Iowa’s Bridges Need Repair And The Total Number Amounts To 4,675. 
• Pennsylvania Had 3,770 Bridges In Need Of Attention, 16.6% Of The Total.
• The Rate Of Repair On America’s Bridges Slowed To The Lowest Point In Five Years 
• In 2018, The Pace Of Repair On America’s Bridges Slowed To The Lowest Point In Five Years.
• Trump Campaigned On Repairing The Brent Spence Bridge, But Failed To Get It Done
• In 2016, Trump Ran On The Promise To Build A Replacement For The Brent Spence, A Decaying Bridge Across The Ohio River.
• The Trump Administration Did Nothing About The Brent Spence Bridge During Trump’s Entire Term.
• AMERICA’S WATER INFRASTRUCTURE RECEIVED A D GRADE, WITH TRUMP’S FUNDING CUTS FURTHER LIMITING ACCESS TO CLEAN WATER
• Trump Froze EPA Grants That Funded Water Infrastructure Programs 
• January 25, 2017: Trump Froze EPA Grants That Stated Relied On For Water Infrastructure Program.
• Trump Proposed Virtually Eliminating Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Funding
• Trump Proposed Cutting All But $10 Million From Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Funding, Which Financed Infrastructure Upgrades To Provide Safe Drinking Water.
• 2020: The EPA Made It Easier For Cities To Dump Raw Sewage Into Rivers By Letting Them Delay Federally Imposed Fixes To Their Infrastructure
• The EPA Allowed Cities To Delay Or Change Federally Imposed Fixes To Their Sewer Systems And Infrastructure That They Deemed Too Costly.
• UNDER TRUMP, NEGLECTED HIGHWAYS AND ROADWAYS CONTINUED TO POSE AN INCREASING SAFETY RISK
• As Of 2018, One-Third Of The Nation’s Major Urban Roadways Are In Poor Condition.
• Experts Stated That Delays In Infrastructure Improvements Contributed To Fatality Rates 
• Experts Stated That Delays In Infrastructure Improvements Contributed To Fatalities.
• Public Transit Safety Incidents On Streets, Highways, And Bridges Rose By 13% Between 2015 And 2018.
• The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Reported That There Were An Average Of 101 Traffic Fatalities A Day In 2018, Up From 97 A Day In 2015.
• TRUMP CAMPAIGNED ON EXPANDING BROADBAND, BUT AS PRESIDENT HE FAILED TO IMPROVE RURAL ACCESS 
• Trump Claimed His Infrastructure Plan Would Include Expanded Access To Broadband
• Trump Said That His Infrastructure Plan Would Include Expanded Access To Broadband Internet For Rural Areas.
• Trump’s Infrastructure Plan Fell Flat And The President Disavowed The Idea OF Federal Meddling In 5G.
• THIRTY-NINE PERCENT OF RURAL AMERICANS, 23 MILLION PEOPLE, DID NOT HAVE ACCESS TO HIGH-SPEED INTERNET
• Thirty-nine percent Of Rural Americans, About 23 Million People, Could Not Access High-Speed Internet. 
• Trump Signed Two Executive Orders That Fell Short When It Came To Getting Rural Americans Online
• Trump Signed Two Executive Orders Aimed At Easing Red Tape Preventing Private Companies From Building New Internet Infrastructure.
• The Executive Orders Failed To Address The Costs Associated With Installing Fiber Across Rural Communities That Disincentivizes Internet Providers From Expanding Coverage.
• Trump Administration Deregulations And Initiatives Made It Easier For Broadband Providers To Charge Consumers More And Subsidized Monopolies In Rural Areas 
• 2017: The FCC Repealed Net Neutrality Rules Requiring Providers To Treat Internet Data Equally, Opening The Door For Providers To Charge More To Access Certain Sites Or To Get Enough Bandwidth For Streaming Services. 
• CNBC: “For Example, Because Streaming Video Takes Up More Bandwidth Than Reading Text-Based Sites, Companies Could Charge More,” Including For Sites Like Netflix.
• FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel Warned That Internet Providers “Have The Technical Ability And Business Incentive To Discriminate And Manipulate Your Internet Traffic, And Now This Agency Gives Them The Legal Green Light To Go Ahead And Do So.”
• April 2019: The FCC Announced A “New” $20.4 Billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund To Expand Internet Access In Rural Areas, But The Plan Repurposed Existing Funds Designated For The Same Thing. 
• Senior VP Of Public Knowledge Harold Feld: “This Is Just Like Slapping ‘New And Improved!’ On The Same Package.”
• Other Critics Pointed Out The Plan Could Result In The Federal Government Subsidizing Internet Provider Monopolies In Rural Areas.