Dive Brief:
- Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said she has a five-year, $275 billion infrastructure plan she will roll out to Congress within the first 100 days of her first term if elected, The Wall Street Journal reported.
- Although short on details, Clinton said during a rally that she plans to add to the $275 billion proposal, which would be "as big — in fact bigger in some ways — than what President Eisenhower did" with the interstate highway initiative, according to The Journal.
- Clinton connected the infrastructure proposal to her plan to also enact immigration reform during her first 100 days in office, as she said there will be plenty of jobs for everyone.
Dive Insight:
Clinton said during her speech that the country's infrastructure, especially bridges and airports, are in desperate need of an update. Clinton also made a point of lambasting presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's Mexican border wall plan, telling union workers that it would cost $25 billion — money better spent in investments into schools, veterans' education programs and renewable energy. Democratic challenger Bernie Sanders has proposed a $1 trillion infrastructure plan.
A Bipartisan Policy Center report issued earlier this month found that the private sector might be the silver-bullet solution to the nation's infrastructure woes. Despite concerns of transparency and bureaucracy, the Center recommended that public-private partnerships (P3s) could benefit projects at all levels of government, as those public entities could harness the private sector's "vision" and expertise in construction and maintenance, as well as its access to a broader range of financing solutions.
In February, the National Association of Home Builders gave a thumbs-up to Clinton's $25 billion housing plan, a linchpin of a $125 billion "economic revitalization program." Clinton’s campaign said the initiative would help with down payments, provide housing counseling, expand credit risk criteria beyond credit scores, provide more affordable rental housing and clarify lending rules.
In another housing industry win for Clinton, Zillow's survey of a panel of economists earlier this month found they believe Trump and Sanders presidencies, along with their "polarizing" policies, would be bad for the housing market overall, whereas a "centrist" Clinton or John Kasich would keep the industry stabilized.
However, in a Construction Dive survey late last year asking readers which candidate would be best for the construction industry, Sanders won by far, with Trump in second place. Readers favoring Sanders cited his $1 trillion infrastructure plan, and those choosing Trump pointed to his business experience and history in the construction and real estate sectors.
