Posted on 12/08/2016 12:56:52 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
County leaders are hopeful that the $1 trillion infrastructure investment promised by Republican president-elect Donald Trump will have a big impact on the region.
Trump has promised to prioritize infrastructure spending in his first 100 days in office. The move is one that Democrats, now in minority positions in both houses of Congress, have said they're willing to support.
The plan, which is not yet fully fleshed out, looks to rely heavily on billions of dollars of infrastructure tax credits to private entities.
And while Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet Yellen warned recently that weighing down the national debt with a large government stimulus package could put the country in a budget crunch if there's another economic downturn, local leaders say the need is there to invest in infrastructure.
Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus said he plans to travel to Washington D.C. as a board member of the County Executives of America in the next few weeks to meet with leaders of the new administration and go to bat for infrastructure investments in Orange.
Neuhaus' priorities include improvements to Route 17, including its long-awaited conversion into Interstate 86 and the much-discussed addition of a third lane.
Other improvements on the wish list to "Future 86" include improving exits to accommodate more traffic between Harriman and Monticello.
Neuhaus said that with development picking up, with proposals for Legoland and Amy's Kitchen in Goshen and the $1.3 billion Montreign casino under construction in Sullivan County, beefing up the highway is key.
"It's on top of my priority list," Neuhaus said.
While the conversion has been planned for years - the state DOT completed the Route 17 Transportation Corridor Study in 2013 - construction has lagged because of a lack of funds.
Neuhaus said he also wants to see funding that could help fast-track the reconfiguration of the Exit 131 interchange in Central Valley, where Route 17 merges with the Thruway.
The state DOT has said construction there could begin as early as 2018.
Other wish-list items include expanding terminals, customs and screening areas at Stewart International Airport, which straddles the towns of Newburgh and New Windsor.
Trump has promised to work with Congress to modernize airports and air-traffic control systems and end long wait times.
"He railed against the quality of our airports," Neuhaus said.
The Thruway, one of the region's most important arteries, would also benefit from an infusion of cash.
Thomas DiNapoli, the state comptroller, released an audit this month saying the Thruway Authority is under "considerable risk" of its revenues falling short of its future needs, even as expenses have dropped and revenues increased in recent years.
He said the authority needs a better road map for the future. "In addition to the Tappan Zee bridge replacement, many of the Thruway Authority's aging roads and bridges require significant work or repair. Thruway officials need to come up with a viable plan to make ends meet for the long term and clearly lay out how it will affect New York drivers and taxpayers."
Edward McAndrew, commissioner of the Sullivan County Department of Public Works, said his department is in charge of about 100 buildings, 385 miles of road and 400 bridges.
He said an injection of federal money, which he said has declined in recent years, would be helpful to pair up with investments the county is already making with help from state funds for roads and bridges.
"Obviously, we would like more for that," McAndrew said.
McAndrew also said federal funds would help the 160-bed Sullivan County Adult Care Center, a skilled nursing facility in Liberty, which could use heating and air conditioning upgrades to make the building more energy efficient.
McAndrew said if a massive infrastructure bill comes to pass, Sullivan County won't hesitate to ask for help.
"We're definitely ready for that. We can put projects in immediately," McAndrew said.
I remember Yellen repeatedly warning Obola about the ballooning national debt, too! Oh wait....
Now wait, what about the shovel ready projects promised by Obammy?
Don’t remember the trillion number being dropped before.
Obama spent 800 billion on infrastructure in his first term.
Boggles the mind to think there could be anything left that hasn’t already been fixed. Or why.
What incentive does Trump have to direct that money to NY state? The Dem governor? The two Dem senators?
The area to which they are referring is a rustbelt stretch with dim future economic prospects (like my NJ just tot he south); I don’t see how throwing money into that bottomless pit will help. As it is, I don’t see huge traffic issues there...
Maybe because the $800 million went to public sector unions and not to actual projects.
He spent billions but it didn’t end up with much infrastructure. He only wanted shovel ready jobs instead of anything requiring a real plan
It’s mostly a gift to union construction crews. Barf me out.
How do tax credits and regulatory reform compare to printing money and debt spending?
Democrats consider taxes they can’t collect as “spending” as if there was some tangible loss to them from not levying taxes (which may never materialize if the tax producer goes bust or makes other investment decisions )
If Trump can create “capital” for companies to invest and spend by reducing their taxes and cutting expensive regulatory restrictions, this could be a new approach- or it will seem new after decades of same-o, same-o
tax and spend
print money and spend
dump money into greedy poorly managed, even sham special interests - and spend
There’s seven or eight trillion dollars missing in the last eight years - much
Of which was promised for infrastructure “shovel ready projects” that obama later was forced to admit never existed. We didn’t get the infrastructure. We didn’t get the jobs. We just got taxed. Biggest theft of money in recorded human history. -—? Can President Trump get our $$$ back?
From 2014: Fed Chair: ‘Deficits Will Rise to Unsustainable Levels’
From 2015: Warnings on Debt Grow
From 2010: San Francisco Fed Outlook for the Economy and Monetary Policy
Yellen has cautioned against excessive deficit spending and increasing national debt her whole career.
Should that money be allocated to only red states. The great one operated that way.
Missouri will only piddle it away. Kansas will use it to plug their budget deficit rather than on roads.
Ok, then spend it on the new red states. Mich. Wisc. Ohio. Let mittens run the program from Detroit where his name is royalty. Kansas is interesting. Run right but the results are lame. Should we reward them?
Say what you want about FDR..at least the things he built mattered…
Obamas was a slush fund
“”Maybe because the $800 million went to public sector unions and not to actual projects.””
That was 800 BILLION.... Joe Biden was going to be the one responsible for the accounting of every single penny of the stimulus package and to my knowledge not one stinkin’ thing has ever been done about it - no report, no commission, no investigation. The only thing we ever heard about was Solyndra and who ever did anything about that wasteful boondoggle?
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