Imperial Valley News

Sacramento, California - Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today joined Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to form a new coalition, "Building America's Future," which will rally support for a renewed federal commitment to funding America's infrastructure needs with state partners. "Building America's Future” is a not-for-profit organization that will be made up of elected and executive officials serving at the state and local levels of government. In the short term, the coalition will work with presidential candidates and the platform committees of the national political parties to ensure that the next president understands the enormity of the infrastructure crisis and is committed to increasing federal funding. In the long term, the coalition will serve as a repository of best practices on infrastructure funding issues and become a think tank focusing on emerging infrastructure issues.

"America needs $1.6 trillion worth of infrastructure over the next five years yet federal investment has been cut in half as a percent of gross domestic product since 1987. This is disastrous because without adequate infrastructure to quickly and safely move goods and people our economy and our traffic will stop dead in its tracks. I could not be happier to join Governor Rendell and Mayor Bloomberg to shine an even brighter spotlight on this critical issue," said Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

"In the past 20 years, state and local governments have been forced to pay more and more of the cost for infrastructure repairs and expansion," said Governor Rendell. "Three-quarters of our nation's infrastructure spending is by state and local governments. In the past five years Pennsylvania has increased state funding for bridge repairs by 300 percent, yet the number of structurally deficient bridges has increased. Our country can't do it without federal leadership. America's infrastructure crisis is far broader than bridges and roads. The infrastructure crisis includes the basic necessities communities and businesses need to survive: schools, waterlines, wastewater treatment systems, dams, flood mitigation, hospitals, energy, aviation, rail lines and ports. This is an issue that crosses party lines and we need significant federal investments now to ensure the safety of our citizens and economic prosperity of our nation."

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Posted by dcjaya at January 19, 2008 12:21 AM