If he is re-elected to the U.S. House of Representatives next fall, I think Rep. Derek Kilmer will likely step up his efforts to win passage of a program to repair and modernize our nation’s crumbling roads, bridges, schools, hospitals, power grid and other public infrastructure.
Kilmer is already pushing legislation to repair the infrastructure of Olympic National Park and other parks chronically starved for maintenance revenues (National Park Legacy Act, https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/115/hr2584/details).
These investments bring joy and renewal to tens of millions of visitors each year.
Kilmer is one of 157 House Democrats who have co-sponsored H.Con.Res 63 which calls for a federally-funded infrastructure repair program that creates millions of jobs and “benefits all Americans, not just the billionaires,” to quote the resolution.
President Donald Trump’s $1 trillion infrastructure plan would privatize, forcing state governments to cover the costs and us to pay in high tolls (“Trump infrastructure plan seeks to shift burden to states,” U.S. News, Jan. 31).
The Society of American Civil Engineers (SACE) predicts the U.S. economy will lose $4 trillion in GDP between 2016 and 2025 if we fail to modernize (“Closing the infrastructure investment gap for America’s future,” SACE).
The flip side is that modernizing costs nothing.
Why?
Because a modern, efficient, infrastructure generates profits, $1.70 for every dollar invested, according to SACE.
Grand Coulee Dam cost $300 million in 1935 dollars but generates 21 billion kilowatt hours of electricity each year and no global warming gases.
It is literally our economic dynamo.
Every candidate seeking election in November should be asked: Will you vote “aye” for a federally funded infrastructure jobs program that creates a green, 21st-century economy and millions of living-wage jobs?
Tim Wheeler,
Sequim