WASHINGTON – Maryland’s Governor Larry Hogan[R] testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on Feb. 24. The hearing was titled “Building Back Better: Investing in Transportation while Addressing Climate Change, Improving Equity, and Fostering Economic Growth and Innovation.”
The hearing examined ways in which the U.S. needs to nationally improve its infrastructure, and how investing in this field could help spur economic growth, which would aid the economy’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The rising number of extreme climate events such as the recent California wildfires, and the ice storms that recently caused havoc in Texas were used as indicators of the need for drastic improvements to infrastructure.
The committee intends to have a piece of legislation drafted sometime this year. National infrastructure reform is an issue that would require cooperation between many different federal, state, and private entities, meaning that the committee is aiming to gather input from all parties involved to craft an effective piece of legislation.
Committee Chair Senator Thomas Carper said, “This is not something that federal government should do alone; this is an all hands on deck moment.”
Governor Hogan was called on to testify alongside several other high-profile witnesses to provide his input on the issue. Other witnesses included Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Denver Colorado Mayor Michael Hancock, and Victoria Sheen who is the president of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. These people represent a portion of state and local officials who have actively been tackling these issues.
In Hogan’s testimony, he spoke of his infrastructure initiatives both as Maryland’s governor, and as chairman of the National Governor’s Association.
“As chairman of the National Governors Association, pre-COVID, I launched a national infrastructure initiative focused on repairing and modernizing our infrastructure in ways that will drive long-term economic growth while addressing short-term recovery needs and encourage innovation and efficient approaches to delivering projects that build the transportation networks of the future.”
Hogan was referring to the “Infrastructure Foundation for Success” initiative, which he spearheaded in 2019. Governor Hogan said that improving infrastructure is an issue that is “fundamental to our economy, our environment, and our way of life.”
He also mentioned several infrastructure projects that he has overseen as Governor of Maryland. These included extending the Purple Metro line in Prince George’s and Montgomery County, the current project to build a new bridge across the Potomac River, and projects that improve traffic flow on state and metropolitan highways.
Hogan’s testimony also stressed the importance of bipartisanship on this issue, even saying that he expressed this desire to President Biden during their oval office meeting earlier this month.
It was not just political cooperation Hogan called for, but for the government to cooperate with invested parties saying: “Democrats and Republicans, business and labor leaders, all of us believe that infrastructure should be a top national priority.”
Economic growth and development were at the core of Hogan’s recommendations. He specifically mentioned how investing in the private sector, and how making major investments in infrastructure would lead to job growth that is much needed in light of the economic recession brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hogan expressed optimism saying that are enough “common-sense ideas for both sides of the political spectrum to come together on.”
“We hope that this hearing will serve as a springboard for real progress,” he said.
Contact Tyler at tylerchesser@thebaynet.com