When big-city mayors met in Washington last week, one of their primary messages regarding infrastructure was that the federal government should send new money directly to cities, rather than through states. The Trump administration seems open to the idea. “The folks in this room turn dirt faster than anybody in America,” New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said at a meeting on infrastructure at the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ meeting last week. “We think that cities are the place

A pair of Republican state lawmakers have effectively derailed — at least for now — plans for so-called “high-speed” passenger train service between the Twin Cities and Chicago. All they needed to do was object. “It’s in effect like a one-person veto,” said Sen. Scott Newman, one of the two lawmakers who put the brakes on a vision that has been in the works since the 1990s and has, over the years, received bipartisan support. The Minnesota Department of Transportation suspend

Legislative sessions are almost always about the money — how much is available, and who is going to get it. The next session of the Texas Legislature will have the usual suspects in line —school finance, border security, pensions, etc. — but a new entry will be at the front of the line. His name is Harvey. This year’s regular and special legislative sessions were marked by financial wrangling, and by some analysts’ reckoning, lawmakers dug their successors a deep hole. The Te

The stars should be aligned for a big infrastructure deal. The lingering devastation from the hurricanes that crippled Houston and Florida underscored the national problems of crumbling roads and bridges, inadequate transportation systems and aging electrical grids. President Donald Trump and congressional Democrats both want Washington to spend billions on repairs and construction. The need is critical. The American Society of Civil Engineers recently gave the country's infr

President Trump’s point person in his push for deregulation has sent regulatory officers at all agencies instructions to submit a budget for fiscal 2018 that produces “a net reduction in total incremental regulatory costs.” In a Sept. 7 memo, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Administrator Neomi Rao called on agencies to plan implementation of Trump’s executive orders on easing regulatory burdens by better controlling regulatory cost allowances. The director of the

President Trump predicted Monday that Texas will receive swift emergency funding from Congress to help with Hurricane Harvey relief efforts. “I think you’re going to see very rapid action from Congress, certainly from the president,” Trump told reporters at a joint press conference with Finnish President Sauli Niinistö. “You’re going to get your funding. It’s a terrible tragedy.” Trump added that he expects to see an emergency spending request on his desk “fairly soon,” and b

Americans who travel abroad sometimes wonder why many of our airports are lacking in comparison to the best international airports. Or they want to know why other nations seem to do a better job with public transportation and the management of other public assets, from ports to parks. The answers we are tempted to give are that we do not invest as heavily in public infrastructure as many other nations and that a market-oriented American ethos with an entrepreneurial culture p

America's infrastructure is in a state of crisis. Roads and train lines are old, dangerous and cost the country billions of dollars in economic growth. Trump wants to repair damages but he is at the mercy of investors. The summer of hell began for New Yorkers last Monday. Beginning at four o'clock in the afternoon people hurried home from work, clogging midtown Manhattan's Pennsylvania Station. Over 600,000 people trek to Manhattan daily from faraway places like New Jersey an

As the Trump administration continues to work on its promised $1-trillion infrastructure investment plan, it is expected to recommend increasing funds for the long-standing federal Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) program, which provides low-interest loans to help finance a range of transportation projects. TIFIA loan recipients testifying at a recent Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing on the program said the loans have been

The Republican and wife of GOP Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell spoke to a lunch crowd Friday at the Brown Hotel in Louisville organized by Greater Louisville Inc., the metro chamber of commerce. She altered her prepared remarks on recent initiatives at the agency to mention that McConnell was expected back in Kentucky — but his flight was delayed. Chao delivered a rundown on Trump's plans to sharply cut the federal government's funding for rebuilding bridges, roads, an