Klobuchar Supports Bipartisan Legislation to Improve Infrastructure

Press Release

U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) cosponsored legislation to establish a new infrastructure financing authority to help states and localities better leverage private funds to build and maintain the nation's outdated infrastructure. The Building and Renewing Infrastructure for Development and Growth in Employment (BRIDGE) Act helps to address the nation's alarming investment shortfall in maintaining and improving our transportation network, water and wastewater systems, and energy infrastructure. The legislation would provide an additional financing tool for states and localities to create new jobs here at home while also increasing our nation's economic competitiveness.

"For far too long we have neglected the roads, bridges, and other infrastructure that millions of Americans rely on every day," Klobuchar said. "This bipartisan legislation will help support critical investments in roads, bridges, ports, waterways, and airports--all while boosting our economy and creating jobs."

The legislation has been endorsed by a wide variety of stakeholders and industry groups, including the Transportation Construction Coalition, American Association of Port Authorities, American Trucking Association, American Society of Civil Engineers, and the Bipartisan Policy Center.

America currently spends less than two percent of its GDP on infrastructure -- about half what it did 50 years ago. By comparison, Europe spends around 5 percent, and China spends 9 percent of GDP on infrastructure. According to the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report, the United States currently ranks 12th among 144 developed countries in overall infrastructure compared to our global competitors.

The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that we need to invest an additional $1.6 trillion in our nation's infrastructure to bring it to a good state of repair. For example, as of 2012, of the more than 600,000 bridges in the U.S., almost one in four were either functionally obsolete or structurally deficient. Nationally, our bridges are, on average, 42 years old, and need an estimated $76 billion to repair and replace. Similarly, the average age of the 84,000 dams in the country is 52 years old, and the Association of State Dam Safety Officials estimates that aging and high-hazard dams require an investment of $21 billion to repair.

Likewise, the Federal Highway Administration reported in 2012 that approximately one-fifth of our nation's major highways -- 182,872 miles' worth of road -- were in poor or mediocre condition and in need of repaving or even more substantive repairs. According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, 42 percent of our major urban highways are congested, which costs the economy an estimated $101 billion in wasted time and fuel annually. Currently, the Federal Highway Administration estimates that $170 billion in capital investment would be needed on an annual basis to significantly improve conditions and performance.

To help address this funding shortfall for our nation's transportation, water and energy infrastructure, the BRIDGE Act will establish an independent, nonpartisan financing authority to complement existing U.S. infrastructure funding. The authority would provide loans and loan guarantees to help states and localities fund the most economically viable road, bridge, rail, port, water, sewer, and other significant infrastructure projects. The authority would receive initial seed funding of up to $10 billion, which could incentivize private sector investment and make possible $300 billion or more in total project investment. The authority is structured in a way to make it self-sustaining over time without requiring additional federal appropriations.

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