May 19th, 2015 by WCBC Radio
According to his office, over 400 Marylanders have written to Congressman John K. Delaney (MD-6) sharing their stories of how America’s aging infrastructure has impacted their life. Responses came from all five counties in Maryland’s Sixth District and overwhelmingly stated that local and national infrastructure has become inadequate, hurting their quality of life as well as their economic and educational opportunities. In addition to infrastructure stories, over 650 Marylanders responded to an online infrastructure survey, giving America’s infrastructure a cumulative D+ grade and gave Congress an F grade on infrastructure policy.
Delaney compiled a report on the infrastructure stories from Maryland and submitted it to Speaker John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. Delaney’s Infrastructure 2.0 Act extends the Highway Trust Fund for six years at increased levels and creates a new $50 billion dollar infrastructure fund for state and local projects by using international corporate tax reform. Delaney has been a national leader in pushing for this new infrastructure solution.
“I want leaders in Congress to know that America’s infrastructure deficit is causing real problems for real people,” said Congressman Delaney. “The stories make it clear that our infrastructure problem is so much bigger than crowded roads or crumbling bridges – poor infrastructure is limiting job and educational opportunities, hurting family and personal life, and creating safety hazards. We received stories from young and old, from small towns and from just outside the Capital Beltway, from highway commuters and transit riders. This is a comprehensive problem that needs a comprehensive solution, which is why I have filed the bipartisan Infrastructure 2.0 Act. By combining tax reform and infrastructure we can rebuild America, create jobs and grow our economy.”
The report summarizes the top concerns of Marylanders and has a representative sample of 55 individual stories from Marylanders. The report is available online here.
As stated in the report, the top infrastructure concerns include:
· Long commutes harming quality of life, limiting job and educational opportunities.
· Inadequate regional infrastructure limiting economic growth and business opportunities.
· Safety concerns on highways, especially I-81, on local roads, bridges, rail and Metro.
· Economic costs caused by wasted fuel, vehicle damage created by poor roads.
· Limited public transit options, especially for disabled Marylanders.
In conjunction with the infrastructure stories initiative, Delaney has held roundtable discussions this month in Frederick and Hagerstown.
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