Last week, Ben Carson was confirmed as Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. His recent controversial comments about slavery notwithstanding, Carson is likely to roll back gains in the Affordably Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule, which the new SOHUD referred to as a "social engineering" tool. AFFH requires federal grantees to further the mission of the Fair Housing Act.

This week, the House Subcommittee on Aviation will hold its third in a series of hearings to prepare for a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reform and reauthorization bill later this year. Witnesses will include Alaska Air Group CEO Brad Tilden, SkyWest CEO Russell Childs, Air Transport Services Group CEO Joseph Hete, Association of Flight Attendants President Sara Nelson, and Travelers United Chairman Charles Leocha.

Also this week, President Trump nominated Jeff Rosen to serve as Deputy Secretary of the Department of Transportation. Rosen, who has spent nearly 30 years with Kirkland & Ellis LLP, was a strong critic of federal spending under the Obama Administration and aired grievances on part of fiscal conservatives.

Infrastructure Bill Update

During his speech to the Joint Session of Congress on 28 February, Trump once more called for legislation to support $1 trillion worth of investment to rebuild critical infrastructure and put millions of Americans to work in the process. In light of lawmakers' reluctance to fund Trump's plan, and given the years-long planning delays faced by many infrastructure projects, both Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Jim Tymon, CEO of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, called for greater support for state and local investment funding programs. Nevertheless, Conor Sen, a portfolio manager at New River Investments, calculated that 570,000 construction workers would have to be added to the nation's labor pool each year to meet the labor demand created by Trump's plan, an unlikely target given highly restrictive immigration controls announced by Trump on Monday.

"Crumbling infrastructure will be replaced with new roads, bridges, tunnels, airports, and railways gleaming across our very, very beautiful land." - President Trump during the February 28 address to the Joint Session of Congress

Contrary to the president's call for Congress to fund his infrastructure plan, Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao insisted that government could not assume the full cost for all projects. Further, she extolled public-private partnerships and stated that highway tolls could be a way to meet funding gaps.

"I have to say that there are some people who may not support toll roads," Chao said, "but we have to take a look at all of these financing mechanisms, because once again, the needs of our infrastructure are so great that the federal government cannot and should not be the only source of funding to repair our bridges, our roads and our energy grids." - Secretary Chao to Sean Hannity on Fox News

Still, last week the planning effort officially kicked off with National Economic Director Gary Cohn convening an interagency group that is developing "six planks" for the infrastructure plan.

To drum up support, President Trump met with AFL-CIO President Richard Trumpka on Tuesday and will meet with business leaders on Wednesday to discuss his infrastructure plan. The meeting will include private equity developers, tech executives (most notably Elon Musk), General Atlantic CEO Bill Ford, McKinsey & Co partner Tyler Duvall and Nature Conservancy Managing Director Lynn Scarlett. Despite an early effort by Ohio developer Daniel Slane to prioritize a list of 50 infrastructure projects nationwide, totaling at least $137.5 billion, there remain serious concerns about a deadline and funding apparatus.

Questions to Ask Your Member of Congress

  • How does Congress plan to make up for massive tax cuts for companies investing in the president's infrastructure plan?
  • How will you ensure that the president's pledge to rebuild the nation's airports will not include hiking costs for travelers?
  • Do you support privatizing the FAA as President Trump has suggested? How will the privatization of the FAA solve the budget and sequestration issues that have prevented the FAA from reaching their Next Generation Air Transportation Program (NextGen) goals?

- Infrastructure & Urban Policy Working Group, RISE Stronger

Have comments or something to add? Contact the RISE Infrastructure & Urban Policy Working Group at [email protected]