By Josh Mitchell Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- A coalition of big-state governors and mayors stepped up its campaign Thursday to secure billions of dollars in infrastructure spending from President-elect Barack Obama's economic stimulus plan, releasing a poll showing Americans favor such spending.
The coalition also called for more authority to be given to city and state officials to determine which projects are funded.
The poll, released by Building America's Future, a coalition including the governors of California and Pennsylvania and the New York City mayor, showed that most Americans would be willing to pay higher taxes to improve roads, bridges and other components of the nation's infrastructure. More than 80% of respondents said they were prepared to spend 1% more in taxes "to rebuild America's infrastructure," according to the Internet survey of 800 Americans, which was conducted by pollster Frank Luntz.
"I think the public is way ahead of us," Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell told reporters during a conference call. "They understand the need for infrastructure to rebuild and revitalize."
The officials released the results as Obama and congressional leaders begin work in earnest on a stimulus plan that could exceed $800 billion. Early talks indicate that between $300 billion and $350 billion of the plan would be spent on infrastructure projects, ranging from road and bridge construction to expansion of broadband.
The officials touched on a debate that has surfaced in Congress: Which type of infrastructure projects should be covered in the stimulus?
Some members of Congress and environmental groups see the stimulus as a rare opportunity to transform the nation's transportation system, moving away from highways and toward "green" projects such as rail and transit.
But the officials who released the survey Thursday sought to play down expectations the money would be used to fundamentally change the nation's transportation system. Long-term projects wouldn't achieve the primary aim of a stimulus plan - to create jobs quickly - said Rendell, a Democrat.
"You have to get things that are ready to go and repair - repairing a bridge, repairing a road," Rendell said. "Those things don't require environmental impact statements that require" many months to clear.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, requested $44 billion from the stimulus to pay for repairs to roads, bridges, water and sewer systems and other projects.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg called for more authority to be given to city and state officials and less to senators and federal officials in determining which construction projects are funded.
"We fundamentally have to move the selection of the projects down the food chain to where the elected officials who make the decisions know what the people need," Bloomberg said. "That would stop this craziness of building things that we don't need and that don't have a long payback."
-By Josh Mitchell, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6637; joshua.mitchell@dowjones.com
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Publié le 08 janvier 2009 Copyright © 2009 Dowjones