Tag: infrastructure

Rep. Phillips: Focusing on Family

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Hi Neighbors,

Families were on my mind as I celebrated my remarkable mom last weekend. It has been a challenging year for all families, and I hope however, and whoever, you honored this Mother’s Day, that it was filled with reflection and gratitude (and perhaps a long-overdue hug if you’re fully vaccinated).

It has been another busy week with a lot of news – so let’s get right to it:

Investing in Kids and Families

Minnesota is the third most expensive state for childcare in the nation. Even before the pandemic, the shortage of affordable, accessible childcare in Minnesota was a serious concern for policy experts and legislators. In the intervening months, that shortage has reached crisis levels, with disastrous repercussions for working families in our state and across the country. As others have said, saving childcare means preserving jobs and supporting working families and businesses. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, 400,000 more women have left the workforce compared to men, in large part due to childcare responsibilities. Absent congressional action, employment for women will not reach pre-pandemic levels until 2024, two years after it is projected to do so for men. It’s time for solutions. So, I hosted a virtual roundtable conversation focused on the returns on investment in kids and families this week.

Continue reading “Rep. Phillips: Focusing on Family”

Trump’s ambitious infrastructure vision faces Senate GOP roadblock

The Hill logoPresident Trump faces a clash with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell(R-Ky.) and other Senate Republicans over the president’s desire for a $2 trillion infrastructure spending bill, something he promised during his 2016 campaign.

McConnell has criticized Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for proposing a big infrastructure package, saying she wants “to practice what [former Obama White House chief of staff] Rahm Emanuel famously said after the financial crisis in 2008: ‘Never let a crisis go to waste.’ ”

“In other words, seize upon crisis to try to makes systemic or policy changes you couldn’t otherwise pass,” McConnell told “The Guy Benson Show” on Tuesday. Continue reading.

Infrastructure bill gains new steam as coronavirus worsens

The Hill logoThe coronavirus and its devastating effect on the economy is giving an old idea new traction with leaders in both parties: trillions of dollars in infrastructure spending.

President Trump on Tuesday called for $2 trillion in new public works programs as a national economic lifeline, backing an idea promoted by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) just a day earlier. Rank-and-file lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have quickly joined the chorus, framing infrastructure as a commonsense strategy for creating jobs amid mass layoffs sparked by the fast-spreading coronavirus pandemic.

“I think the Speaker’s right that infrastructure would be a good place to start because that’s something that’s the responsibility of the federal government to begin with,” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said Tuesday on Fox Business, pointing to a bipartisan highway bill that a Senate committee advanced on a 21-0 vote. Continue reading.

Trump, Pelosi infrastructure talks invite skepticism

K Street sees Tuesday’s meeting between Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and President Trump as a last-chance bid to move on a bipartisan infrastructure deal this year.

At the beginning of the Congress, advocates expressed hope that infrastructure was one of the few issues where House Democrats were likely to work with Trump. But there has been frustration that both sides have made little public progress toward a deal.

Those who spoke to The Hill hoped the Tuesday meeting would give the issue new momentum.

View the complete April 29 article by Alex Gangitano on The Hill website here.

Dems want climate change, tax hikes in infrastructure deal

The top two Democratic leaders on Monday told President Trump that any bipartisan infrastructure package needs to take into consideration climate change and include “substantial, new and real revenue” — a preview of the coming fight over tax hikes.

Trump will host Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) at the White House on Tuesday for discussions on a major infrastructure bill, one of the few policy areas that could see action amid divided government and as the 2020 race heats up.

Democrats want the measure for roads, bridges, waterways and other projects to be paid for with tax increases, and with a final price tag of at least $1 trillion over 10 years. Trump’s fiscal 2020 budget calls for $200 billion in federal spending on infrastructure, which White House officials say will leverage an additional $800 billion in investment through public-private partnerships over the next decade.

View the complete April 29 article by Scott Wong on The Hill website here.

Trump backs off vow that private sector should help pay for infrastructure package

The following article by Tory Newmyer and Damian Paletta was posted on the Washington Post website September 26, 2017:

President Donald Trump, right, speaks while Rep. Richard Neal, a Democrat from Massachusetts and member of the House Ways and Means Committee, listens during a bipartisan meeting with members of the committee in the Roosevelt Room of the White House. (Zach Gibson/Bloomberg)

President Trump told lawmakers Tuesday that he was abandoning a key element of his planned $1 trillion infrastructure package, complaining that certain partnerships between the private sector and federal government simply don’t work.

Trump’s comments, described by a House Democrat who met with Trump and confirmed by a White House official, reveal an infrastructure plan that appears to be up in the air as White House officials have struggled to decide how to finance many of the projects they envision to rebuild America’s roads, bridges and tunnels. Continue reading “Trump backs off vow that private sector should help pay for infrastructure package”

Trump Is Selling a Privatization Scam, and Calling It an Infrastructure Plan

The following article by Jefferson Morley was posted on the AlterNet website June 5, 2017:

Scorning serious proposals, the White House offers a Trump University plan for employment.

Asphalt road cracked and broken from earthquake.  Photo Credit: Narongsak Nagadhana/Shutterstock

President Trump’s original proposal for a $1 trillion infrastructure jobs plan was, in principle, a worthy idea, a practical way to create jobs and improve the country’s highways, bridges, railways, and airports. In reality, Trump’s jobs agenda is a sham that does not involve a trillion dollars, won’t do much for the country’s infrastructure and won’t create many jobs.

That became obvious Monday during the first installment of what the Trump White House billed as “infrastructure” week: a televised event designed to look like a signing ceremony. Before the cameras, the president made only a very modest proposal calling on Congress to split air traffic control away from the Federal Aviation Administration and place it under a private, non-governmental entity. Trump made a show of signing two documents as if they were legislative bills or executive orders. In fact, they were merely statements of “legislative principles,” according to the White House. Continue reading “Trump Is Selling a Privatization Scam, and Calling It an Infrastructure Plan”