Sen. Bernie Sanders introduces the Rebuild America Act to fix an infrastructure system he says is “falling further and further behind” at a press conference.(Madeline Fox/MNS)
WASHINGTON – Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont on Tuesday announced his fix for the soon-to-expire Highway Trust Fund — a $1 trillion, five-year plan he plans to introduce to Congress.
The Rebuild America Act, Sanders’ plan, is one of many infrastructure bills on the horizon as a looming deadline to fix the Highway Trust Fund approaches. Congress approved a $10.8 billion measure last year that kept the fund solvent through May.
“Our infrastructure is collapsing and the American people know it,” Sanders said. “But year after year, nothing happens, and we continue to grossly underfund our nation’s physical infrastructure.”
Sanders’ bill differs from other proposals in that it includes provisions for not only roads and bridges, but canals, dams and waterways, as well as faster broadband internet access, said spokesman Vincent Morris.
The bill does not address how its infrastructure plans will be funded, a contentious issue for Congress and the administration.
“What I wanted to do is focus on the need to build the infrastructure, not start the debate about how to fund it,” Sanders said. “There are many ways to fund it, and honest people can have honest differences of opinion, but the focus today is on the need to do it, and we’ll have the debate about how to fund it I’m sure in the weeks and months to come.”
There’s some bipartisan support in Congress for funding infrastructure by using a gas tax hike. President Barack Obama has advocated closing tax loopholes as an alternative.
The American Society of Civil Engineers has estimated that $3.6 trillion is needed between now and 2020 to keep the nation’s infrastructure in a state of good repair, with an anticipated funding gap of $1.6 trillion. The Highway Trust Fund, which is supported by a gas tax, provides federal money for state and national infrastructure projects, but it is running increasingly low. Some states have taken matters into their own hands, raising money for projects through their own gas taxes or public-private partnerships.
Casey Dinges, the ASCE’s senior managing director, praised Sanders’ “bold plan” and echoed the senator’s warning about continuing to underfund infrastructure.
“As we continue to defer maintenance on our roads, bridges and water systems and fail to modernize other critical infrastructure sectors, we lose global competitiveness, our economy suffers and we sacrifice our ability to create much-needed jobs,” Dinges said.
Sanders stressed the job-creation potential of the proposed bill.
“What the economists tell us over and over again is that if you are serious about creating jobs, the fastest way, the most effective way of doing it is through rebuilding infrastructure,” Sanders said. “Even by conservative estimates, the Rebuild America Act will put 13 million Americans to work.”
