Hillary Clinton, the former U.S. Secretary of State and Democratic presidential front-runner, unveiled her $275 billion plan to rebuild and modernize the infrastructure across the United States to help create jobs over the next five years.
During the launching of “Hard Hats for Hillary” campaign in Boston, Mrs. Clinton said, “Investing in infrastructure makes our economy more productive and competitive across the board. To build a strong economy for our future, we must start by building strong infrastructure today.”
Mrs. Clinton emphasized that her five year, $275 billion plan to invest in infrastructure will create good paying jobs and build the future that America deserves. She added the investing in infrastructure is “down payment on our future.”
Hillary Clinton plans to create an infrastructure bank
Mrs. Clinton plans to allocate $250 billion for direct federal spending on infrastructure. She emphasized that the country’s infrastructure— airports, bridges, electric grids, railways, and roads need repairs. The remaining $25 billion will be used as a seed fund for a strategic infrastructure bank.
The funding for the infrastructure proposals will come from revenues through a “business tax reform.”
Under her plan, the infrastructure bank will administer a renewed and expanded version of the Build Americans Bonds Program, which was launched as part of the 2009 Recovery Act.
The creation of an infrastructure bank has been part of the Democratic campaign over the past 25 years. Bill Clinton called for its creation during his presidential campaign in 1992. He made progress on the idea during his first term as president.
In 1995, Pres. Clinton signed a transportation law, which authorizes state-driven infrastructure bank pilot projects. He also succeeded in encouraging the Congress to enact the Transportation and Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TFIA).
During the 2008 presidential race, Barack Obama also presented his proposal to establish a $60 billion infrastructure bank.
Hillary Clinton urges Congress to pass the highway bill
Furthermore, the Democratic presidential front-runner said she wants all American households to have access to high-speed internet by 2024. She also noted that 35% of schools in the United States do not have fiber optic connections, which she considers unacceptable.
Mrs. Clinton also urged the Congress to pass the highway bill by the end of this year. In 2011, Pres. Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers estimated that every $1 billion in federal highway and transit spending from his proposed American Jobs Act would support 13,000 jobs for a year.
Mrs. Clinton presidential campaign next month will focus on her “jobs agenda.”
