Presidential Candidates Pledge Infrastructure Support in ACEC Co-Hosted Forum

ACEC News / Advocacy

February 18, 2020

Presidential Candidates Pledge Infrastructure Support in ACEC Co-Hosted Forum

At the Moving America Forward Presidential Candidate Forum in Las Vegas on Sunday, all four participating presidential candidates committed to investing in the nation’s transportation and water infrastructure.

ACEC co-hosted the event.

“My takeaway is there is a genuine understanding that infrastructure is a major issue for the U.S.,” said ACEC Chair Mitch Simpler. “The only difference between the candidates is what to do and when to do it.

Vice President Biden said he would raise the corporate tax rate to 28 percent to fund his $1.3 trillion infrastructure plan. He would be open to increasing the federal passenger facility charge but was less optimistic about raising the federal gas tax. “We’re not going to be able to raise the gas tax,” he said, “although we may be able to index it down the line.”

Senator Amy Klobuchar said her $1 trillion infrastructure plan would be her top legislative priority.

Tom Steyer promised to allocate $450 billion to maintain existing infrastructure while investing $775 billion for clean transportation infrastructure.

Mayor Pete Buttigieg touted his local experience in dealing with infrastructure, saying it “is a mayor’s native language and the federal government could learn from states and municipalities that regularly find room for compromise on road and water projects.”

Click here to view the Forum.

 

 

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