Senator Richard Blumenthal said Monday in Hartford that he is against President Donald Trump’s proposed $1.5 trillion plan to repair America’s infrastructure because it forces local governments to come up with the money.
Rather than adopt Trump’s plan, Blumenthal is pitching a bipartisan coalition that will find federal dollars to fund an infrastructure bank.
“We need an investment that is real not magical thinking,” he said. “The amounts of money here, let’s be very blunt, are so large that we cannot rely on increasing taxes. We cannot rely on tolls. We need to fund it the right way.”
Trump’s plan, being rolled out this week, involves a $200 billion investment to incentivize state and local governments to spend money to fix their own bridges, rails, or any other structures in disrepair.
The American Society of Civil Engineers has given the country a “D+” for current infrastructure conditions.