Construction Dive
In his State of the Union address, President Donald Trump made several proposals that could impact the construction industry, including calling on Congress to deliver a bill that would create $1.5 trillion in infrastructure investment. This is an increase from the $1 trillion plan the president has been touting since before the 2016 election.
During his speech, the president continued to walk back negative comments he made about the potential for private investment in infrastructure projects, which should give public-private partnership (P3) advocates hope that state and local agencies, which could be tasked with providing 80% of project costs, will use this structure. Steven A. Nichols, partner at Rutan & Tucker and co-chair of the firm’s construction law group, said that, although $1.5 trillion might fall short of what it will take to address the nation’s infrastructure shortfalls, P3s would help leverage limited government funds.
