Group Calls For Six-Point Plan to Rebuild America’s Infrastructure

A new report was released at the National Press Club that outlines new ways that the federal government, industry and other stakeholders can work together to solve the crisis of the failing state of U.S. infrastructure. Titled "Making the Grade,” the report is the result of a collaboration among experts from 45 different organizations, including corporations, professional organizations, think tanks, financial advisers and academic institutions. It offers a six-point plan with fresh ideas to regain America's infrastructure leadership and revive the country’s global competitiveness.  

The report's name is intended as a rallying cry in response to last year's quadrennial report card by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), which gave America's overall infrastructure a D+ grade. The ASCE estimates that $3.6 trillion must be invested by 2020 to make critically needed upgrades and expansions of national infrastructure—and avoid trillions of dollars in lost business sales, exports, disposable income and GDP.  

While much has been written and discussed about the problem, "Making the Grade" provides recommendations and workable solutions to help meet today’s and tomorrow’s infrastructure needs.

The report's six-point recommendations are:

1. 1. Making infrastructure a cabinet-level priority;
2. 2. Forming U.S. infrastructure regions;
3. 3. Establishing a national infrastructure bank;
4. 4. Selling "opportunity" bonds;
5. 5. Creating a national infrastructure index; and
6. 6. Engaging the American people to build support for the importance of infrastructure policy.  

Collectively, these recommendations apply modern tools, technologies, approaches and thinking to offer a new vision and path forward for the way U.S. infrastructure should be planned, financed, designed and built.

“We not only must do better at building what we need, we need to do better in deciding what we need," said Bill Bertera, executive director of the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructyre. "The 'Making the Grade' report shows us a way forward in doing just that. This is not and cannot be just about us, about this generation and our needs. It must be about future generations and their options as well.” 

Source: CG/LA