State of the Union falls short on infrastructure

January 31, 2018

Tyson Fisher

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President Donald Trump issued his first State of the Union address on Tuesday and covered a variety of topics. However, Trump glossed over one important policy issue that Americans have been waiting for and he promised during his campaign and his inaugural speech to deliver within the first 100 days: infrastructure.

Trump spent nearly 90 minutes addressing the country during the State of the Union address, the third longest next to Bill Clinton and – Bill Clinton. Clinton loved his own voice, apparently. To be exact, Trump’s address clocked in at 1:20:31. Clinton had long-winded speeches lasting 1:28:49 and 1:24:58. Conversely, Nixon was not much for State of the Union addresses, averaging at approximately 30 minutes. Some fun trivia for you.

At any rate, the point here is that Trump had plenty of time to go into details about what he has planned for the country. He did just that on the issues of immigration and national security. In fact, Trump spent approximately 15 minutes on immigration (including many applause breaks, of course).

How much time did Trump spend on infrastructure during the State of the Union? Approximately 2 minutes and 20 seconds. That includes nearly one minute of applause breaks:

Most of the infrastructure talk was rhetoric. The only part with any substance was the following:

“Tonight, I’m calling on Congress to produce a bill that generates at least $1.5 trillion for the new infrastructure investment that our country so desperately needs. Every federal dollar should be leveraged by partnering with state and local governments and, where appropriate, tapping into private sector investment to permanently fix the infrastructure deficit. And we can do it.”

The only new bit of information here is an increase from $1 trillion to $1.5 trillion. That money is not for government spending. Rather, that figure specifically refers to money generated. A 2018 budget fact sheet for the infrastructure initiative called for $200 billion in federal outlays. That means the remaining $1.3 trillion dollars will be left up to state/local governments and the private sector, and we know what that usually means:

State government infrastructure funding + private sector investment = TOLLS!

“If Trump relies on the private sector and forcing states and localities to come up with their own funding, Trump’s infrastructure plan could result in a patchwork of tolls that span coast to coast,” Stephanie Kane, a spokeswoman for Alliance for Toll-Free Interstates, said in a statement. “This approach is not innovative or good policy – it is simply a nationwide call for #TrumpTolls.”

Where is the $200 billion in federal funding coming from? The short answer: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Many elected officials are calling for an increase in fuel taxes. However, the politically powerful duo known as the Koch brothers, have written a letter to Trump opposing any gas tax. The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association feels differently:

“If elected officials think a fuel tax increase would be unpopular, wait until Americans encounter more and higher tolling,” Todd Spencer, acting president of OOIDA, said in a statement. “An investment of $1.5 trillion in infrastructure will help dramatically improve our roads, while spurring economic growth. But increased tolling is not the way to pay for it. Instead, the White House and Congress should find the courage to increase federal fuel taxes, which are a significantly more reliable and efficient source of revenue than tolling.”

It appears that Congress will need to fill in the blanks. However, House Transportation Chairman Bill Shuster, R-Pa., said on Tuesday, he is waiting on Trump’s proposal before moving forward with any kind of legislation, effectively putting the ball back in Trump’s seemingly empty court.

Let’s not forget that the tax reform bill may have soured any potential compromises for a bipartisan infrastructure bill. Democrats and some Republicans are likely to be worried where all this money will be coming from after billions of tax dollar revenue has been cut off.

Essentially, we are right back where we were before the State of the Union address: in limbo. No details, no new information and, as far as we know, infrastructure has taken a back seat again to immigration and national security.

All we know is that an infrastructure bill based on what little we do know will involve a lot more tolls. That’s not putting Americans first.