While Washington Dithers, States Put Infrastructure Spending on Ice

For years, U.S. infrastructure has been waiting for a blast of new money. Instead, the coronavirus slump is draining away the already limited resources available to maintain and improve it.

Just three months ago, when the country went into lockdown to curtail the spread of Covid-19, there were expectations the crisis would spur the government and lawmakers in Washington into long-delayed action. The Trump administration is preparing to unveil a $1 trillion infrastructure proposal as part of its push to revive the U.S. economy, according to people familiar with the discussions, while Democrats today presented their own $1.5 trillion plan. Yet experts say that even if a bipartisan deal could be struck, any increase in federal funding for highways, bridges, and the like may not be enough to compensate for reductions in infrastructure spending at the state and municipal levels, preventing many projects from moving forward.