Engineering Inc. - Winter 2020 - 29

"I was impressed with the level of detail that each of the
candidates was able to get into, and it shows you that they
recognize that this is a bread-and-butter issue."
LINDA BAUER DARR
PRESIDENT AND CEO
ACEC

authority, which would work with states and local governments
to leverage public and private funds.
"I would take those Trump tax cuts where the corporate tax
rate went down from the mid-30s to 21 percent," Klobuchar
said. "Every point it went down was $100 billion. So, you
could still have reduced it and used a bunch of money for
transportation. I would take the first four points of it and get
$400 billion out of that."
Klobuchar also mentioned the possibility of bringing back
"Buy America" bonds, which worked during the 20th century
world war eras.
INFRASTRUCTURE AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Each candidate reminded attendees that climate change is an
essential part of his or her presidential platform and linked that
to plans to rebuild America's infrastructure.
"I would rejoin the Paris Agreement on day one," said Buttigieg,
who also planned to propose the adoption of carbon pricing.
Steyer said he would declare a "climate emergency" his first day
in office. "Everything that we are going to do will be from the
standpoint of climate," he said. Steyer added he would, "change
the rules under which private corporations are allowed to generate
energy, the kinds of cars they are allowed to produce, and the
kinds of building efficiency rules they have to operate under."
One of his ideas would be a cash-for-clunkers plan where
the government would buy polluting vehicles to help families
upgrade to new fuel-efficient or electric cars. Steyer also
advocated for high-speed rail and included the nation's
affordable housing shortage as an infrastructure issue.
Both Klobuchar and Biden expressed their concerns for the
environment and identified clean water as one of the crucial

Former Democratic Presidential Candidate and hedge fund financier Tom Steyer
conducts an interview backstage during the Presidential Candidate Forum on
Infrastructure.

elements of their infrastructure agendas.
"It (water) is not always the bright shiny object in terms of
ribbon-cutting like rail and roads but needs to be addressed,"
said Klobuchar.
In addition to their funding and environmental plans, the
candidates reiterated support for the Davis-Bacon Act of 1931
and prevailing wages on all public infrastructure projects under
their administrations.
TAKE-AWAYS

Floyd said he was very impressed with their knowledge of the
issues: "Some of them spoke about green infrastructure, which
I think is something that we are all going to have to deal with,
more than we have in the past."
But, Floyd added, "One thing that I was a little disappointed
in is that none of them would discuss or even touch the subject
of raising the gas tax. I think that is something that needs to be
done in the short term. Some of them talked about vehicle miles
traveled as a new way to fund transportation infrastructure in the
future, but that is down the road and is not going to happen yet."
ACEC President and CEO Linda Bauer Darr and ACEC
Chairman Mitch Simpler, thought this first-ever forum was
a positive step in bringing forward the need for a robust
infrastructure plan.
"I was impressed with the level of detail that each of the
candidates was able to get into, and it shows you that they
recognize that this is a bread-and-butter issue," said Darr.
"Because it affects everyday Americans' lives in lots of ways-
quality of life, death due to neglect-it's all about money, about
getting it done." Infrastructure spending will be a big factor in
getting them elected, she added.
"Certainly, all four candidates have demonstrated that they
understand the need for infrastructure and the significant
spending that is going to be required to bring the current
infrastructure up to some acceptable level," said Simpler. "But
I think that each of them had a different perspective on how
to fund it-which I appreciate-but the fact is we have to do
something, and it has to get done."
ACEC's Policy Priorities for Engineering a 21st Century
Infrastructure Agenda can be found on its website. For more
information visit: https://www.acec.org/default/assets/File/
ACEC%20on%20Infrastructure.pdf. n
Craig A. Ruark is a freelance writer with The Vegas Bureau. He is
based in Las Vegas.

WINTER 2020

ENGINEERING INC.

29
https://www.acec.org/default/assets/File/ACEC%20on%20Infrastructure.pdf https://www.acec.org/default/assets/File/ACEC%20on%20Infrastructure.pdf
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