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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Trump Infrastructure Plan Could Bypass Rural Areas

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Thursday, March 2, 2017   

DENVER -- During his address to Congress on Tuesday, President Trump called for $1 trillion in public and private investment to rebuild the nation's roads and bridges, noting that the $6 trillion spent fighting wars in the Middle East could have easily rebuilt America two or three times over.

Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich said Trump's plan to lure investors with tax credits would be a huge giveaway for wealthy developers, but he agrees there's a big need for more and better infrastructure for the public.

"And the only way we get that is if corporations and the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes,” Reich said. "We'd be turning over public roads and bridges to private corporations who will charge us expensive tolls."

He said tolls would likely be set by private companies to provide the kinds of returns expected by Wall Street. And he warned that infrastructure in rural areas might not be fixed at all if the project isn't seen as profitable.

Some Republican leaders, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., also are wary of Trump's plans to finance the effort.

Reich said taxpayers could end up footing the majority of the bill under Trump's proposal. That’s because, for every dollar a developer puts into a project initially, tax incentives would make their ultimate contribution only about 18 cents - leaving taxpayers to cover the remaining 82 cents.

"Rather than taxing the wealthy and then using the money to fix our dangerously outdated roads, bridges, airports, water systems, Trump wants to give rich developers and Wall Street investors tax credits,” Reich said.

He said essentially, the public would end up paying twice: first by subsidizing developers and investors with tax dollars and again by paying tolls and user fees. President Obama's proposal to tap private investors to pay for infrastructure projects also was opposed by Republicans in Congress during his years in office.


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