Tag Archives: Infrastructure Plan

‘We have a deal:’ Biden OK’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure plan

By David Morgan and Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday embraced a $1.2 trillion bipartisan Senate deal to renew the nation’s roads, bridges and highways and help stimulate the economy — a major breakthrough on one of his key domestic policy goals.

“We have a deal,” Biden told reporters, flanked by Democratic and Republican senators who wrote the infrastructure proposal that followed months of White House negotiations with lawmakers.

Its $579 billion in new spending includes major investments in the nation’s power grid, broadband internet services and passenger and freight rail.

But it does not contain other key priorities for Biden and progressive Democrats, such as new spending on home health care and child care, which Biden pitched as “human infrastructure.” The Democrats who control Congress by razor-thin margins aim to cover those areas in another spending package that they want to maneuver through the Senate without Republican votes.

“This deal means millions of good-paying jobs and fewer burdens felt at the kitchen table … But it also signals to ourselves, and to the world, that American democracy can deliver, and because of that it represents an important step forward for our country,” Biden said later at the White House.

One member of the bipartisan group of 21 senators who negotiated the deal, Republican Rob Portman, said: “We didn’t get everything we wanted but we came up with a good compromise.”

He said they had commitments from Republicans and Democrats alike to get the plan “across the finish line.”

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who was briefed on the plan early on Thursday, did not answer questions about whether he would back the initiative.

The eight-year proposal contains $109 billion for roads, bridges and major projects; $73 billion for power infrastructure; $66 billion for passenger and freight rail; $65 billion for broadband access; $49 billion for public transit; and $25 billion for airports, according to a White House statement.

The investments would be paid for through more than a dozen funding mechanisms, including $100 billion in estimated tax revenues from a ramp-up in enforcement by the Internal Revenue Service, unused COVID-19 aid money and unemployment insurance funds returned by U.S. states.

Democratic and Republican members of the group displayed high spirits, chuckling and smiling together at microphones in the driveway of the White House.

NOT A PUNCHLINE

​Before the White House meeting, Portman told reporters on Capitol Hill that McConnell “remains open-minded and he’s listening.” Portman added, ‘He hasn’t made his decision.”

McConnell did not respond later to questions from reporters about his position.

“They’ve done a lot of good work. There’s a good framework there,” said Senator John Thune, the chamber’s No. 2 Republican, who also met with McConnell. He told reporters that party leaders would wait for the White House’s response and discuss the framework with members of the caucus.

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he supported the outline of the deal but wanted to see the details. He also noted that the $1.2 trillion bill focused on physical infrastructure would not get the Democratic votes needed to pass it without an accompanying package tackling social issues including home healthcare.

“All parties understand, we won’t get enough votes to pass either, unless we have enough votes to pass both,” Schumer said on the Senate floor. He said the Senate would aim for a vote on the bipartisan plan next month.

RECONCILIATION REDUX

Pelosi said that the House would only vote on the bipartisan bill after the Senate had also approved the additional spending package to be passed through a process called “reconciliation” which would allow Democrats to override Republican objections.

That could mean that the battle over these massive bills could extend into September and beyond.

Biden, seeking to fuel economic growth and address income inequality after the coronavirus pandemic, initially proposed spending about $2.3 trillion. Republicans chafed at his definition of infrastructure, which included fighting climate change and providing care for children and the elderly.

The White House later trimmed the offer to about $1.7 trillion in an unsuccessful bid to win the Republican support needed for any plan to get the 60 votes required to advance most legislation in the evenly split 100-seat Senate.

A major sticking point had been how to pay for the investments. Biden has pledged not to increase taxes on Americans earning less than $400,000 a year, while Republicans are determined to protect a 2017 cut in corporate taxes.

Thune said there were questions about whether watchdogs, including the Congressional Budget Office, would recognize some of the funding mechanisms as achieving savings.

(Reporting by David Morgan and Richard Cowan; Additional reporting by Andrea Shalal, Susan Cornwell, Jarrett Renshaw, David Shepardson, Makini Brice and Susan Heavey; Editing by Scott Malone and Sonya Hepinstall)

U.S. senators pursue infrastructure plan without tax hikes

By David Morgan and Susan Cornwell

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A bipartisan group of 10 senators is trying to build support for a new infrastructure plan to revitalize U.S. roads and bridges without raising taxes, three lawmakers said on Wednesday, a day after President Joe Biden rejected a separate Republican proposal.

Revamping America’s infrastructure is a high priority for Biden, but his proposal has run into trouble in a Congress only narrowly controlled by his fellow Democrats, making Republican support pivotal.

Republican Senator Mitt Romney told reporters that members of the group have reached “tentative conclusions” on their plan. It is expected to total nearly $900 billion. Biden had been pushing for a much higher figure, initially $2.3 trillion, but later lowered to $1.7 trillion.

“We’re not raising taxes,” Romney told reporters. “We’re going to be talking to other members to see if this can get enough support for this to have the necessary votes to be successful.”

The group includes Republicans Romney, Rob Portman, Bill Cassidy, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski and Democrats Kyrsten Sinema, Jon Tester, Joe Manchin, Mark Warner and Jeanne Shaheen.

“Taxes would be a huge mistake and I think the Biden administration understands that,” Portman said.

Biden has proposed raising taxes on U.S. corporations to help fund a sweeping package that would address traditional infrastructure projects as well as climate change and social programs. Republicans have shown no appetite for tax increases, having strongly backed a 2017 tax cut law signed by former President Donald Trump.

Tester said he would be willing to look at funding an infrastructure plan without raising taxes.

“I would consider it, sure,” Tester said. “I think there’s plenty of pots of money out there – hopefully they’re not all smoke and mirrors.”

Romney and Portman said members of the group have not settled on a total amount of infrastructure spending and declined to discuss specific provisions they would pursue.

“If we get good support, when we get that support, is when we’d talk about it, bring it out. If we don’t get the support, why, it’ll be closed down,” Romney said.

Portman said the group is looking at funding mechanisms for their proposal that could face Democratic resistance including unspecified user fees and tapping into funds for COVID-19 pandemic-related unemployment payments to individuals that some states have returned to the U.S. Treasury.

“I think the White House is interested in talking with us about appropriate ways to look at some COVID funding that’s being sent back,” Portman said.

Cassidy said he spoke to Biden by telephone on Tuesday to discuss infrastructure.

Most legislation requires 60 votes in the 100-seat Senate to move forward. The Senate is divided 50-50, with Democrats in control because Vice President Kamala Harris can cast a tie-breaking vote.

Biden broke off talks on Tuesday with Republican Senator Shelley Moore Capito, who had headed a six-member Republican team including party leaders and top members of relevant Senate committees.

Capito had offered Biden $330 billion in new infrastructure spending, far short of what he has sought.

The 10 senators now working on a new plan are part of a larger 20-member bipartisan group, known as the G-20, that includes Capito. Portman said he would continue to work closely with Capito and her team.

(Reporting by David Morgan; additional reporting by Susan Cornwell; Editing by Scott Malone and Chizu Nomiyama)

Republicans boost infrastructure counteroffer to $928 billion

By David Morgan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Senate Republicans unveiled a new infrastructure offer on Thursday that would spend $928 billion over eight years to revitalize America’s roads, bridges and broadband systems but still falls well short of President Joe Biden’s last proposal.

The plan, from a group of six Republicans led by Senator Shelley Moore Capito, represents their counter-offer to a week-old $1.7 trillion White House proposal that removed more than $500 billion from Biden’s original $2.25 trillion plan in a bid to reach a bipartisan agreement.

Capito said the offer delivers on the outline of a prospective infrastructure deal that Biden laid out during a May 13 meeting at the White House, where Republicans say he mentioned spending $1 trillion over eight years.

“Senate Republicans continue to negotiate in good faith,” Capito, top Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, told a news conference while flanked by members of her negotiating team.

A Biden administration official said later that the proposal was being considered seriously.

A primary reason for the gap between the two sides is that each has a different definition of “infrastructure.” Republicans want the bill limited to physical assets, such as roads, airports and pipes, while the White House aims to include social spending programs and education.

Biden has imposed an unofficial end-of-May deadline on the negotiations, and some Senate Democrats have been pushing to go it alone if Republicans do not reach an agreement soon.

In a memo addressed to the president, the Senate Republicans expressed readiness to continue talking into June.

“Your most recent offer leaves us far apart, and coupled with your Memorial Day deadline, leaves little time to close the gap,” the memo said. “We believe that we can reach a bipartisan agreement on infrastructure … We look forward to continuing our discussions around this framework.”

The Republican proposal includes $506 billion for roads, bridges and major projects, with another $98 billion allocated to public transit. Just $257 billion of the funds represented an increase over existing spending plans.

Republicans proposed using funds previously authorized for COVID-19 relief to fill a $575 billion gap between expected revenue from the U.S. Highway Trust Fund and the offer’s $928 billion top line.

HOW TO PAY FOR IT?

Senator Roy Blunt said Republicans are willing to consider other means of paying for the plan, including a fee on electric vehicles and nearly $350 billion in “public-private” investments identified by business leaders.

At a news conference on Wednesday, Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre had rejected the idea of repurposing already-authorized COVID-19 funding for infrastructure.

“We should also be clear that there are simply not hundreds of billions of dollars in COVID-relief funds available to repurpose,” Jean-Pierre said.

Senator Pat Toomey rejected that argument at Thursday’s news conference: “Repurposing these funds needs to be a really important part of how we fill this gap … there’s more than we need.”

Reaction among Senate Democrats was mixed.

Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Tom Carper said he was encouraged by the proposal and called for negotiations to continue.

Other Democrats flatly rejected the idea of using COVID-19 relief money for infrastructure as a non-starter, while Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown called the offer too small: “We want to go big, the public wants us to go big. They need to pay attention to what the public wants.”

Capito warned that any decision to move forward on a Democratic infrastructure plan without Republican support could have consequences for legislation down the road. “A partisan reconciliation process would be destructive to our future bipartisan attempts,” the West Virginia Republican said.

Senate Democrats could pass a bill without Republican votes through a process called reconciliation that bypasses the chamber’s rule that requires most legislation to have 60 votes to pass. They did so earlier in the year to pass a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill.

But with the chamber divided 50-50, every Democratic senator would have to agree to the maneuver. Multiple moderates have raised concerns about using reconciliation again.

The White House has expressed willingness to negotiate on some of the finer details but has said it wants a large package that expands the definition of infrastructure to include items such as free community college and paid family leave.

To pay for it, the administration has said it is open to any ideas as long as they don’t include asking Americans earning less than $400,000 to pick up the bill.

Republicans initially proposed a $568 billion, five-year plan and increased the top line to around $800 billion over eight years when the two sides met on Capitol Hill on May 18, according to the lawmakers.

(Reporting by David Morgan; Additional reporting by Doina Chiacu, Susan Cornwell, Jarrett Renshaw, Nandita Bose and Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Scott Malone, Cynthia Osterman and Daniel Wallis)

‘Every step of the way’: McConnell pledges battle over Biden infrastructure plan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday said he will fight President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure plan “every step of the way” and predicted the sweeping package would not see support from Republican lawmakers in Congress.

At a news conference in Owensboro, Kentucky, McConnell said the Biden proposal underscores deep philosophical differences between Republicans and Democrats over taxes and the national debt. He told reporters that he does not believe the White House has a public mandate to pursue the plan.

“I’m going to fight them every step of the way, because I think this is the wrong prescription for America,” he said.

Biden’s infrastructure plan, unveiled on Wednesday, charts a course for dramatic change in the direction of the U.S. economy and includes investments in traditional projects like roads and bridges along with climate change initiatives and human services like elder care.

“There’s more money in that plan that the president laid out in Pittsburgh for electric cars than for roads and bridges. Let me say that again: more money for electric cars than roads and bridges,” McConnell said.

Biden has proposed funding the package by raising the tax rate on U.S. corporations to 28% from 21% and making it harder for companies to use offshore tax shelters and other methods to reduce their tax burdens.

McConnell warned that “massive tax increases” would harm the economy and said the package’s spending level could run up the debt. The White House says the infrastructure proposal would more than pay for itself.

“My view about infrastructure is, we ought to build that which we can afford and not either whack the economy with major tax increases or run up the national debt,” he said.

(Reporting by David Morgan and Doina Chiacu, Editing by Franklin Paul and Sonya Hepinstall)

The hard part: Biden infrastructure-linked tax hikes face hurdles in Congress

By David Morgan and David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden’s plan to pay for his $2 trillion infrastructure plan with higher corporate taxes faces hurdles in Congress from Republicans who say it will kill jobs and from some of his fellow Democrats who want a bigger write-off for state and local taxes.

The plan, which Biden will unveil at an event in Pittsburgh later on Wednesday, would hike the U.S. corporate tax rate to 28%, from its current 21%, to secure more revenue from corporations that have used offshore tax shelters and other measures to reduce their tax burdens.

It would make it harder for U.S. corporations to relocate their headquarters to lower-tax countries for tax purposes or to shift profits overseas. The proposal would also eliminate tax preferences for fossil fuels and beef up enforcement by the Internal Revenue Service.

It does not include Biden’s campaign promise to raise taxes on wealthy individuals, which could come in a second package.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he was “not likely” to support the package if it included those tax hikes.

“If it’s a Trojan horse for a massive tax increase, put me down as highly skeptical, if that’s all in one package and it’s a take-it-or-leave-it package,” McConnell told reporters in Erlanger, Kentucky.

McConnell said he spoke to Biden about the plan on Tuesday.

In the House of Representatives, Republicans on the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee said the proposed tax hikes would hurt U.S. job creation.

Leading business groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers warned that higher corporate taxes would risk job and economic growth and make it harder for American companies to compete globally.

The tax provisions would roll back many of former President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cuts.

Biden’s overall infrastructure plan charts a dramatic shift in the direction of the U.S. economy, with investments in traditional projects like roads and bridges along with climate change and human services like elder care.

The president will need solid backing from Democrats in both houses of Congress if Republicans uniformly oppose the legislation as they did his $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package.

The White House said the tax hikes might move through Congress “alongside” the spending provisions, hinting that the two could pass separately. A House Democratic aide said the legislative plan remains up in the air, with the White House leaving the strategy to congressional leaders.

Some moderate Democrats are threatening to oppose the initiative in hopes of reversing Trump’s cap on the federal income tax deduction for state and local taxes, or SALT, which is felt most acutely in Northeastern states with higher taxes.

“We say, no SALT, no deal,” three House Democrats from New York and New Jersey said this week.

But the Biden tax package appeared to have ready support from Democrats in the Senate who plan to release their own proposal next week.

“While the proposals are distinct, our plans share the same goals of ending incentives to ship jobs overseas and rewarding companies that invest in the United States and its workers,” said Democratic Senator Ron Wyden, who chairs the tax-writing Finance Committee.

Democrats control the House by a margin of 219 to 211, so they will need to stay united if no Republicans support the plan. The party has not yet decided how to proceed, a House Democratic aide said.

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said this week she aims to pass it by July 4.

(Reporting by David Morgan and David ShepardsonEditing by Andy Sullivan, Paul Simao and Sonya Hepinstall)

Trump administration’s infrastructure plan taking shape

: Steel beams on the draw span, which needs replacement, are shown on the Arlington Memorial Bridge in Washington, U.S., June 20, 2016.

By Ginger Gibson and David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Trump administration is finalizing its long-awaited infrastructure plan, which would push most of the financing of projects to private investment and state and local taxpayers, according to sources familiar with the proposal taking shape.

President Donald Trump, who spoke frequently of improving U.S. infrastructure during his 2016 campaign, may preview the plan in his Jan. 30 State of the Union address, but details are not expected until afterward, the sources said.

Two people briefed on it said it would likely recommend dividing $200 billion in federal funding over 10 years into four pools of funds. The administration is structuring the plan in hopes of encouraging $1.35 trillion in state, local and private financing to build and repair the nation’s bridges, highways, waterworks and other infrastructure, one source said.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the largest business lobbying group in Washington, is even backing a 25 cent increase in the federal gasoline tax to make that happen.

It is unusual for a business group to call for a tax increase, but the Chamber argues that it is necessary to fund critical infrastructure projects.

“It’s time to invest in a 21st century infrastructure, a system of infrastructures to support and grow a 21st century economy,” said Tom Donohue, the Chamber’s president, in a speech on Thursday as part of the organizations renewed public push for action.

“It’s time to make up for decades of underinvestment that today is evident in everything from bone-rattling potholes and endless traffic gridlock, to deadly train derailments and destructive water main breaks,” he said.

The numbers in the Trump plan are still in flux and could change before he unveils it. The prospects of winning approval in Congress are uncertain given that Republicans have only a 51-49 majority in the Senate.

Many Republicans want to use private-sector investment to finance infrastructure projects to avoid increasing the national debt. Democrats believe that government money is necessary to produce such a large package.

COST-SHARING

Under the Trump plan being shaped, the largest share of the federal money – $100 billion – is expected to go toward cost-sharing projects with local governments, similar to grants.

The goal would be to reduce the ratio of federal funding, which often now is 80 percent, by awarding funds only to projects that are able to provide more local funding or leverage private investment, said a business lobbyist familiar with the discussion.

Some $50 billion would be earmarked for rural projects, the lobbyist said. Those funds would help governors on projects like roads, broadband access and replacing aging lead pipes. Including a pool for rural infrastructure could also reduce concerns among some Republican senators who fear rural areas may be unable to attract private investments.

Twenty-five billion dollars would go toward existing federal infrastructure loan programs that seek to spur private investment, the lobbyist said.

The final $25 billion would be designated for so-called transformative projects – an effort being dubbed “American Spirit” projects. They could include high-speed trains or the Gateway Tunnel, the stalled proposal to build a new rail connection between New York City and New Jersey.

The plan may not deliver any additional federal money than in years past. The proposal could take $200 billion from existing spending plans – although the administration has not yet committed to whether it would come from existing programs or whether the money would be found elsewhere.

The administration is unlikely to rule out any forms of funding – including increasing the federal gas tax or creating a vehicle mileage tax, which would put electric cars that now use the roads but do not consume much gasoline on the same footing as cars with internal combustion engines, sources said.

Donohue made four recommendations for the infrastructure package including raising the gas tax and also recommended expanding the ability of states to access private investment funds to complete projects, reducing the federal permitting process and addressing state and local permitting rules.

He also called for more federally backed workforce training – including more apprenticeship programs. As part of that, Donohue reiterated the Chamber’s call for passing comprehensive immigration reform, a proposal where business has been at odds with the Trump administration.

(Reporting by Ginger Gibson and David Shepardson; Editing by Damon Darlin, Peter Cooney and Susan Thomas)

Trump pushes infrastructure plan as Russia probe heats up

U.S. President Donald Trump announces his $1 trillion infrastructure plan to the crowd during a rally alongside the Ohio River at the Rivertown Marina in Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. June 7, 2017. REUTERS/John Sommers II

By Jeff Mason

CINCINNATI, Ohio (Reuters) – President Donald Trump on Wednesday trumpeted plans for $1 trillion in U.S. infrastructure spending as he struggles to gain momentum for his economic agenda amid growing attention on the probe into alleged ties between his campaign and Russia.

“America wants to build,” Trump said. “There is no limit to what we can achieve. All it takes is a bold and daring vision and the will to make it happen.”

Speaking in Cincinnati, Ohio, Trump reviewed a proposal announced earlier this year to leverage $200 billion in his budget proposal into a $1 trillion of projects to privatize the air traffic control system, strengthen rural infrastructure and repair bridges, roads and waterways.

Trump said he would not allow the United States to become a “museum of former glory.” He spoke about backing large transformative projects but did not give specifics.

“We will construct incredible new monuments to American grit that inspire wonder for generations and generations,” he said.

Trump pointed to a government program that allows the private sector to tap into low-cost government loans called the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act as a way to leverage federal funds with state, local, and private sector funding.

Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said at a Senate hearing on Wednesday that administration plans to unveil a detailed legislative proposal by the end of September.

Democrats want $1 trillion in new federal spending and proposed a plan that includes $200 billion in roads and bridges,$20 billion in expanding broadband Internet access, $110 billion for water systems and $75 billion for schools.

Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer said the Trump budget unveiled in May cuts $206 billion in infrastructure spending across several departments, including $96 billion in planned highway trust fund spending.

The Ohio visit was the second leg of a week-long White House focus on infrastructure. On Monday the president proposed spinning off air traffic control from the Federal Aviation Administration.

The proposal to privatize air traffic control has run into skepticism and opposition from Democratic senators and some Republicans.

The infrastructure push comes as the White House seeks to refocus attention on core promises to boost jobs and the economy that Trump made last year during his presidential campaign.

Those pledges have been eclipsed by the furor over Russia’s alleged meddling in the election. That drama will come to a head on Thursday when former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey, who was leading the Russia probe until Trump fired him last month, testifies before a Senate panel.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason in Cincinnati, Ohio Writing by David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Chris Sanders and Cynthia Osterman)

U.S. infrastructure legislation back on Congress’ radar

Senate Majority Leader

By Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump’s pledge to bring massive investments in U.S. infrastructure projects showed new signs of life on Friday after lying dormant for weeks, as leading Republican lawmakers said proposals from the administration could be in the offing.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, told reporters he expects to receive “some kind of recommendation on an infrastructure bill, a subject that we frequently handle on a bipartisan basis,” but gave no details or timing.

He has previously voiced concern over adding to budget deficits with a new injection of federal funds for road, bridge and other construction projects like the ones President Barack Obama secured from Congress in 2009, especially after a major highway funding law was enacted about a year ago.

Some Republicans and Democrats in Congress are increasingly criticizing Trump’s administration for being slow to get behind his legislative initiatives during the first month of his presidency.

Trump’s plans to create an infrastructure council led by two New York billionaire friends, developers Richard LeFrak and Steven Roth, have yet to be launched, a spokesman for LeFrak said.

During his presidential campaign, Trump said he would push for a $1 trillion infrastructure program to rebuild roads, bridges, airports and other public works projects. He said he wanted action during the first 100 days of his administration, which now seems unlikely.

The Republican president has talked about creating a tax credit to encourage private sector investment in many of these projects. But Democrats say that would fail to spur enough rebuilding and put taxpayers on the hook for a tax credit to wealthy developers, who they said would build toll roads that taxpayers would then have to pay to use.

Democrats want a more direct federal role in sparking a construction boom.

In an interview on Tuesday, Republican Representative Mario Diaz-Balart said he had “no doubt that it (infrastructure investment) is a priority for the administration.”

Diaz-Balart chairs a House subcommittee that would control the flow of Washington money that might be needed to fund some of the public works projects.

Several lawmakers and aides speculated the initiative could be attached to tax reform legislation that Republicans want to advance this year, but no decisions have been made.

Writing an infrastructure bill involves seven or eight committees, there are complicated tax and spending questions at stake, and lawmakers are divided.

There are also questions over what would qualify as an infrastructure project, with rural areas, for example, clamoring for more broadband internet service.

Senator John Thune, a member of the Republican leadership who chairs the commerce and transportation panel which has a say on any bill, said he had little information on the content or status of legislation.

Asked about McConnell’s comments, Thune said, “Maybe he knows more about it since he’s married to the secretary of transportation,” Elaine Chao.

(Reporting by Richard Cowan; additional reporting by Herb Lash in New York; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and James Dalgleish)

U.S. governors send 428-project list for Trump’s infrastructure plan

Donald Trump speaking to Congress

(Reuters) – U.S. governors on Wednesday sent the Trump administration a list of 428 “shovel-ready” projects they regard as high-priority for President Donald Trump’s plan to fix the nation’s infrastructure.

The list of projects cover 49 U.S. states and territories, the bipartisan National Governor’s Association said in an e-mail. The NGA will not be making the final list publicly available.

The NGA had said on Jan. 23 that it had, at the request of the White House, assembled a list of 300 projects costing billions of dollars from 43 states and territories, with more expected to come.

Trump’s Presidential campaign throughout last year included a promise to pursue a $1 trillion infrastructure program, which would come at a time when major public works projects are crumbling.

The American Society of Civil Engineers’ infrastructure report card has estimated the United States needs to invest $3.6 trillion by 2020.

(Reporting by Akankshita Mukhopadhyay in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D’Souza)