Stimulating the Infrastructure $130 billion of construction spending-1
A review of the Conference of Mayors’ report on the economic benefits of high-speed passenger rail on cities and their metropolitan areas. Is the report overly ambitious in its analysis of the potential economic benefits considering that high speed rail carries obstacles that might take years to address?
Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood requests action by the Nation’s Governors to make certifications and other assurances that the funding made available under the Recovery Act will be spent for worthy infrastructure projects. Certification is necessary to permit the timely release of funds.
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Victims of the deadly 2007 Minneapolis bridge collapse took legal steps Monday to seek punitive damages against an engineering firm that evaluated the bridge’s structural integrity before it fell.
The Senate is set to consider a bill next week that would authorize $38.5 billion for wastewater and drinking-water infrastructure over the next five years. S. 1005, the Water Infrastructure Financing Act, could come to a vote in the Senate as early as Monday, July 27.
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger advocates for a high-speed rail system to modernize US infrastructure, which he considers to be on par with that of a developing country. He says, “Our trains go the same speed today as they were 100 years ago,” Schwarzenegger says. “So where is the progress?”
Authorization of the Federal Aviation Administration expired in September 2007. Since then, the FAA – including aviation infrastructure programs – has been operating under a series of short-term extensions. The House is tentatively scheduled to vote on reauthorization legislation (H.R. 915) Thursday, May 21.