Only state investment will provide needed infrastructure improvements.

State investment in transportation, public buildings, water treatment systems, and other forms of vital infrastructure is key to creating good jobs and promoting full economic recovery. States should reject the flawed economic growth strategy of cutting taxes and offering corporate giveaways, and instead identify and make investments in infrastructure that provide the foundation for a strong economy. It’s a good time for states to make those investments.

The condition of roads, bridges, schools, water treatment plants, and other physical assets greatly influences the economy’s ability to function and grow. Commerce requires well-maintained roads, railroads, airports, and ports so that manufacturers can obtain raw materials and parts and deliver finished products to consumers. Growing communities rely on well-functioning water and sewer systems. State-of-the art schools free from crowding and safety hazards improve educational opportunities for future workers. Every state needs infrastructure improvements that can pay off economically in private-sector investment and productivity growth.

States may be hoping that a promised federal plan to invest more in roads, bridges, and other public infrastructure will materialize. More federal help would be welcome, but states should take the lead in this area because the type and amount of assistance they’d receive under any new federal initiative remain unclear. The President’s fiscal year 2019 infrastructure proposal, for example, claimed to invest $1.5 trillion in real new federal infrastructure resources, but it is a mirage: the budget in fact would have cut total federal funding for infrastructure in the long run. (The proposal would have added $200 billion in “new” federal funds that the Administration claimed could support at least $1.5 trillion in investment, but in the long run it would have deeply cut the Highway Trust Fund — and suggests that states and localities would have to fill the gap.[1]) President Trump also noted the need for infrastructure investment in his 2020 budget, which again calls for allocating $200 billion but provides no new details on how it would be used.