In the News

Potholes. Flight delays. Crumbling dams, spillways and bridges. The need for investment in our nation’s infrastructure is glaring, and the deterioration has been occurring unchecked for years. For the first time in a long time, Washington is proposing an innovative and long-overdue infrastructure package that goes beyond just maintenance and is anything but status quo.

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While finding new revenue is always a challenge, opportunities do exist. Last year, then-President Barack Obama signed into law a bill I authored, which will yield over $8 billion by reducing the federal real estate footprint. The Federal Assets Sale and Transfer Act (FASTA) established a program for liquidation of unneeded federal real property. The law waives burdensome reviews and streamlines the disposal process for more than 267,000 vacant or underutilized federal buildings. Profits from the sale of these properties could be reinvested in much-needed infrastructure projects elsewhere. Tax reform will also provide options for dedicated transportation revenue for our trust funds and new projects.

For these dollars to be used most efficiently, we must also slash bureaucratic red tape and streamline the environmental review and permitting process. The administration has made good progress in this area by holding federal agencies accountable for their performance, establishing a lead agency responsible for “One Federal Decision,” setting a two-year goal for environmental reviews and permitting, and creating a 90-day decision making time frame when documentation is complete. Congress has an opportunity to build on these tenets and provide additional tools to streamline the process by continuing to support an idea I championed to allow states to perform the environmental review and documentation process instead of relying on various federal agencies. This removes redundancy and reduces costs for participating states. The program has been so successful that we enhanced it in the 2015 highway bill.

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And finally, to provide an even higher return for the taxpayer, it’s critical that we enhance federal financing options like the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) program, Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF) program and the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA). These programs provide low-cost access to credit for financing highway, bridge, rail, transit and drinking water projects among others. Tools like direct loans, loan guarantees and lines of credit assist public and private entities facilitate big projects by filling gaps in capital markets. Although successful, there is room for improvement, as not all categories of projects are eligible under TIFIA, RRIF and WIFIA. In California, we struggle with water storage and distribution. Important projects like dams and reservoirs are expensive and dependent on limited Bureau of Reclamation resources. In order to bring needed water storage to fruition, I have proposed the New WATER Act (H.R. 434) to attract new investment capital for development, construction and rehabilitation of these projects. Credit assistance under the program is available to public and private entities for creditworthy projects with long repayment periods. In order to be approved, projects must be capable of generating sustainable revenue streams. This commonsense tool would provide exponentially more investment in water storage at a low cost.

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