How GOP and Democratic Platforms Will Differ on Infrastructure

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DALLAS – The 2016 Republican Party platform's proposal to halt federal funding for public transit would devastate local communities, transit advocates warned.

The platform proposal would undo more than 30 years of dedicated federal investment for public transit and harm millions of workers who depend on trains and buses to get to their jobs, said Richard White, acting president of the American Public Transportation Association.

"I am extremely disappointed that the platform fails to continue the important federal role in supporting public transportation," White said.

In its platform, the GOP said, "We propose to remove from the Highway Trust Fund programs that should not be the business of the federal government.  More than a quarter of the fund's spending is diverted from its original purpose. One-fifth of its funds are spent on mass transit, an inherently local affair that serves only a small portion of the population, concentrated in six big cities."

But White said, "We need a well-funded transportation system that includes public transportation. The public transportation industry is currently underfunded."

His comments come even after the $305 billion, five-year Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (PL114-94) enacted in early December provides $60.9 billion for transit through fiscal 2020. The total includes $48.7 billion of formula grants and $11.5 billion of capital investment grants. Federal funding accounted for $7.4 billion of the $17.7 billion of capital spending on mass transit by all levels of government in fiscal 2013, White said.

The GOP platform suggested that public-private partnerships could provide much of the needed national investment in transportation.

"Recognizing that over time additional revenue will be needed to expand the carrying capacity of roads and bridges, we will remove legal roadblocks to public-private partnership agreements that can save the taxpayers' money and bring outside investment to meet a community's needs," the platform said. "With most of the states increasing their own funding for transportation, we oppose a further increase in the federal gas tax."

The proposal to cut transit funding is a disappointment, said Ray LaHood, a former Republican congressman from Illinois who served as President Obama's first transportation secretary.

"The platform of the Republican party says no federal funding for transit, which would absolutely be the death knell for public transit in America," LaHood said at a roundtable sponsored by the National League of Cities and bond insurer Build America Mutual. "What the Republicans are basically saying to the cities is, 'You are on your own. Good luck.'"

In contrast, the draft Democratic platform, which will be developed at next week's convention in Philadelphia, will promise significant infrastructure investments.

"We will make the most ambitious investment in American infrastructure since President Eisenhower created the interstate highway system," the draft says.

Democratic presumed nominee Hillary Clinton has proposed an additional $275 billion of federal infrastructure spending over five years.

Norman Anderson, president of consulting firm CG/LA Infrastructure, said neither party seems to have a solution to the funding issue.

 "I don't see anything in either party's platform that shows me they have a handle on the enormity of this problem," Anderson said. "We haven't been serious about building infrastructure in this country for more than 50 years."

Robert Cochran, chairman of Build America Mutual, said the municipal debt market can provide the funding needed to revitalize U.S. transportation.

"There is no doubt that there is municipal market demand and investors that will provide that additional $100 billion to $150 billion of annual investment that it will take to get to that $1.5 trillion of infrastructure funding that we need in order to make up the gap over the next 10 years," Cochran said.

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