By Ron Thaniel
July 4, 2011

Former Governor of Pennsylvania and Building America’s Future co-chair Edward G. Rendell and U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas J. Donohue called for infrastructure investments to revitalize America’s struggling economy at the June 20 Plenary Lunch of the 79th Annual Meeting of The U.S. Conference of Mayors.

“The American infrastructure is crumbling before our eyes,” said Rendell. We stopped investing in infrastructure. In 1961 we allocated twelve percent of non-military domestic spending to infrastructure. Today it is two and half percent.”

“We used to lead the world in the amount GDP allocated to infrastructure,” Rendell said. “Today we are almost dead last among developed nations.” He said the United States would need to spend $3 trillion over the next ten years to revitalize infrastructure, which breaks down to $300 billion a year. It would be paid for through state and local financing of infrastructure ($70–75 billion), private financing ($35 billion), and federal financing ($25 billion infrastructure bank and $165 billion in federal funding redirected from wars in Afghanistan and Iraq).

“To guarantee that each American is afforded the opportunity to achieve the American dream, we need to ensure a certain quality of life is provided. And few things make a larger impact on that standard of living than the quality of our infrastructure,” said Rendell.

“Not only have we suffered the worst recession since the Great Depression, we’re now suffering the worst recovery since the Great Depression, growth is tepid and uneven, the housing market is worse now than in the 1930s, and the percentage of the workforce with jobs is at its lowest point in decades,” said Donohue. On top of that said Donohue, “Our infrastructure is crumbling.”

“We need an adequately funded and well-maintained infrastructure system,” said Donohue. “We need to pass a multi-year highway bill, get the FAA reauthorization bill over the finish line, and unleash the $190 billion in private capital sitting on the sidelines that could be invested in infrastructure projects.”

“Governments around the world have shown they can partner with private firms to finance and develop new highways, bridges, and other infrastructure vital to our economy. We need to be doing more of that in this country,” said Donohue. “America Fast Forward is helping to advance that goal.” America Fast Forward, Donohue said, “is designed to leverage public and private capital for infrastructure projects, improve the method by which they are financed, and bring them to completion much faster.”

Created by Conference of Mayors President Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa, America Fast Forward would increase the annual Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) funding; increase the maximum percentage of the funding allotment that TIFIA can finance; permit the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) to approve multiple related projects at the same time; allow USDOT to grant up-front credits to projects; and authorize USDOT to lock-in interest rates for approved projects.

“The revitalization of the American economy will come from the ground up–from cities and states–and not top down from Washington,” said Donohue. Today I am extending a “hand of cooperation to the mayors of America’s great cities.” He said, “My message is this: The business community stands ready to be your partner in creating jobs, uplifting your communities, and strengthening the nation.”