U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) and other top Senate Democrats today unveiled a major $1 trillion infrastructure spending plan aimed at creating millions of new jobs while repairing the nation’s crumbling roads, bridges and other infrastructure.
Democrats say the plan to invest $1 trillion in transportation and other infrastructure projects over 10 years would create more than 15 million new jobs and provide funding to repair roads and bridges, expand bus and rail systems, modernize ports and rebuild public schools.
“Florida is growing at a rate of nearly 1,000 people per day,” Nelson said. “You can imagine the toll that’s taking on our state’s infrastructure. This is our chance to make some much-needed repairs and create millions of new jobs in the process.”
Nelson, the top Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee and a key sponsor of the proposal, says that if approved, the plan would likely fund several important projects in Florida.
Specifically, Nelson says the plan includes $180 billion to improve and expand bus and rail systems, which could be used to restore Amtrak service along Florida’s Gulf Coast and extend Sunrail service in Orlando. It also includes $10 billion to modernize ports and waterways, which could be used to speed up repairs being made to the Herbert Hoover Dike and deepen the ports in Jacksonville and Ft. Lauderdale to accommodate the new mega ships coming through the expanded Panama Canal, and $210 billion to fix crumbling roads and bridges.
The plan also provides, among other things, $30 billion for airport improvements, $10 billion to construct new Veterans Affairs facilities and $75 billion to modernize public schools.
Here’s a link to more information on the plan: https://www.billnelson.senate.gov/sites/default/files/Infrastructure_Plan.pdf.