State of the Union 2019 Calls for Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill

President Trump’s 2019 State of the Union speech included a distinct call for infrastructure legislation as a potential area of bipartisan compromise: “Both parties should be able to unite for a great rebuilding of America’s crumbling infrastructure. I know that Congress is eager to pass an infrastructure bill – and I am eager to work with you on legislation to deliver new and important infrastructure investment, including investments in the cutting edge industries of the future. This is not an option. This is a necessity.”

This was similar to Trump’s sentiments on infrastructure in last year’s State of the Union address, where he called on congress to “to produce a bill that generates at least $1.5 trillion for the new infrastructure investment we need.” Following his speech the President formally released an infrastructure proposal that included $200 billion in Federal funding, but aspired to generate a total of $1.5 trillion in infrastructure investment by encouraging state, local, and private investment. The plan was met with mixed reviews and no major infrastructure compromise was brokered last year.

The President’s 2019 speech did not feature a funding goal, but infrastructure was featured as a separate section of his speech from his calls for wall on the southern U.S. border, leaving open the possibility that infrastructure legislation might be considered as distinct from border security issues.

The full text of President Trump’s remarks are available at: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-state-union-address-2/.