[W]ASHINGTON — Both Vermont senators joined a slew of Democrats pitching a proposal that would invest $1 trillion in infrastructure initiatives.
Senate Democrats offered the proposal as a response to an infrastructure plan President Donald Trump released last month.
Trump’s plan would use about $200 billion in federal funds with the intention of leveraging a total of $1.5 trillion from private companies and state and local governments.
The proposal Democrats rolled out Wednesday would undo some key parts of the tax overhaul package Republicans passed last year and use the funds to pay for infrastructure initiatives.
They would restore the top income tax rate, the estate tax and the alternative minimum tax — all of which were cut in the new law. They propose to invest $1 trillion in projects including improving roads, bridges, train service, and water and sewage systems.
The plan also would appropriate $40 billion to build out universal access to high-speed internet connections.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., bashed the administration’s proposal as an “illusory plan,” and heralded the proposal the Democrats authored.
“It’s real investment,” Leahy said. “It’s not flim-flam and fumes.”
The senators derided the administration’s plan, saying that private partnerships would result in “Trump tolls” for driving on some roads.
The vice chair of the Appropriations Committee, Leahy said that “cash-strapped states” cannot afford to take on more expenses.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., ranking member of the Budget Committee, said there’s a major need for improving infrastructure in the country.
“We are the wealthiest nation in the history of the world,” Sanders said. “And yet from Vermont to California, people look around them and what they’re finding is their roads and their bridges and their water systems and their wastewater plants are falling apart.”
Sanders cited a report on Vermont’s infrastructure by the American Society of Engineers, which found that 30 percent of the state’s bridges were structurally deficient based on 2014 data — the most recent year information was collected around the country.
The tax reform package passed late last year has been the signature achievement of the Trump White House and congressional Republican leaders.
Democrats attacked the plan for increasing the national deficit and for concentrating the benefits of tax relief among wealthier individuals and companies.
Asked about the proposal’s use of part of the deficit spending from the Republican tax plan to pay for infrastructure initiatives, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer defended it, saying the country has a centuries-long tradition of paying for roads, bridges and more, he said.
“We believe that infrastructure is a place where the federal government should make an investment,” Schumer said. “We think it’s a lot better investment of the federal government in infrastructure than cutting taxes on the wealthiest people and the biggest corporations.”
The Trump administration’s infrastructure proposal has so far not moved forward in Congress.
Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., criticized the administration plan in February for not including support for building out broadband, as well as eliminating important grant programs and more.
In an interview following the release of Trump’s infrastructure plan, Vermont Secretary of Transportation Joe Flynn said that the state had concerns about whether leveraging private funds in Vermont “is that feasible.” The state tends to rely heavily on federal money now.
Some aspects of the proposal could benefit Vermont, according to Flynn, such as a $50 billion block grant initiative for projects in rural areas.
Flynn said Wednesday that a 2008 VTrans estimate that improving Vermont’s roads would cost about $110 million a year may still be close to a target estimate.
Gov. Phil Scott’s administration recommended putting $155.9 million towards road work in the next state fiscal year, and $95.5 million for bridges, he said.
