AGC of California CEO urges Congress to approve Trump’s infrastructure proposal

The Associated General Contractors of California’s chief executive Peter Tateishi has urged the Congress to pass SB 1, an infrastructure investment package providing consistent funds to local projects over the next 10 years.

In a statement issued Feb. 12, Tateishi asserted that the current federal Highway Trust Fund has failed to sustain roads, bridges, and transit systems throughout the nation and that President Donald Trump’s recently-proposed package would address this issue.

“Maximizing taxpayer dollars through a non-federal matching model allows states like California and self-help counties like Los Angeles, Sacramento and San Francisco to leverage their state and local taxes with federal dollars to expedite the construction and repairs to our aging infrastructure,” he said.

Furthermore, Trump’s plan highlights the expansion of workforce education that the organization has long been advocating. Such initiative falls in line with the Go Build California program.

“The more opportunities we can create for our future workforce equals more jobs with sustainable career paths,” Tateishi said.

Earlier on the same day, Trump unveiled his plan that is projected to produce $1.5 trillion for repairs and upgrades of the nation’s infrastructure. The federal government, however, is only spending $200 billion while the rest will be provided by state and local governments. They are expected to match the federal budget by a ratio of four-to-one.

Half of the allocation, $100 billion, would be awarded as incentives to local government units. Around $20 billion is going to construction work of “national significance, including the Gateway Tunnel passing through the Hudson River in New York.

The federal government also plans to spend $50 billion for rural block grants, a majority of which will be provided to states based on its miles of rural roads, as well as the size of their rural population. Their governments can then use that funding for broadband, energy, water, waste and transit projects.