DALLAS -- South Carolina wants $5 billion from President Trump's infrastructure program to both rebuild the state's crumbling roads and bridges and deepen Charleston Harbor.
Gov. Henry McMaster said in a letter to Trump on Monday that the $5 billion would "ignite a prosperity that will return the investment many times over."
South Carolina's request is expected to be on a list of more than 300 infrastructure projects that will be submitted later this week to the White House. The list of shovel-ready projects from at least 44 governors was sought by Trump's transition team in mid-December to be the first phase of the new administration's 10-year, $1 trillion infrastructure plan unveiled before the November election.
Projects on the list reportedly include the widening of 200 miles of Interstate 70 in Missouri that is expected to cost up to $4 billion and an $8 billion expansion of a light rail system in Spokane.
McMaster said many of the South Carolina's roads and bridges are outdated and some are dangerous. The cost of restoring the infrastructure is too high for the state's taxpayers alone, he said.
The South Carolina Department of Transportation said last year that it needs an additional $1.1 billion per year over the next 25 years to bring the state's highway system up to good condition.
"In years of enduring storms, floods, breached dams, hurricanes, the recession, counter-productive federal policies and other factors, we have become adept at attempting to manage scarcity," McMaster said. "But it is too much at this time to ask our people to bear this burden alone, heightening fears of increased gas taxes, delay, missed opportunities, and decline."
Trump's infrastructure plan would not provide additional direct federal spending on infrastructure. Instead, it calls for $137 billion of federal tax credits to help leverage $1 trillion of private investments in infrastructure over the next decade.
In his letter to Trump, McMaster said the state needs $2 billion to repair and pave interstate highways and major state roads, $2 billion to widen congested stretches of interstate highway, $500 million to replace structurally deficit bridges, and $500 million of highway safety improvements.
South Carolina is also seeking $180 million to complete the funding for a $520 million project to deepen Charleston Harbor to 52 feet so it could accommodate the massive cargo ships capable of going through the recently enlarged Panama Canal.
The state has already committed $341 million to the harbor project, he noted.
"While our Charleston port is strong and getting stronger, our roads and bridges leading to it and to our neighboring states need help," McMaster said.
McMaster was sworn in as governor on Jan. 24 after Gov. Nikki Haley was confirmed as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
Rep. Gary Simrill, leader of the Republican majority in the South Carolina House, said he hopes the state gets the money that McMaster has requested but doubts it would solve the state's transportation funding problem.
"It does not take away from the immediate and crucial highway needs in South Carolina," he said. "Funding from a federal bill is welcome, but we are still are playing catch-up in South Carolina on our roadways."
A proposal being considered by the state's House would raise South Carolina's gasoline tax by 2 cents per year for five years, while another in the Senate would raise the fuel tax by 4 cents per year for three years.
The measure pending in the House would bring in an additional $600 million per year. Collections from the proposed tax increase in the Senate are estimated at $800 million per year.
South Carolina's gasoline tax of 16 cents per gallon is the third lowest in the nation, according to the American Petroleum Institute.
