Throughout this country, Americans are driving on roads riddled with potholes and deficient bridges. Our drinking water and wastewater systems are in disrepair. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) estimates that we need to invest $2 trillion above current spending levels just to get our crumbling infrastructure back to a state of good repair. In Vermont, we need to spend $700 million a year to keep up our roads and bridges, and our storm and wastewater systems need $2.3 billion over the next 20 years.

The good news is that there is a growing consensus that we must repair and modernize the physical infrastructure that our communities and economy depend on. The bad news is that President Trump’s proposed Fiscal Year 2021 budget would actually cut over $49 billion in direct federal infrastructure spending over the next decade. We must do better. That is why Senator Sanders has called for a $1 trillion investment to repair and rebuild our infrastructure and create 15 million good-paying jobs.

As a senior member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Senator Sanders is working to reauthorize the federal highway bill that expires next year. His top priority is to defend the more than $200 million a year Vermont receives to fix our roads and bridges he secured in the last two bills. He is also working to address the climate crisis by investing in electric vehicle charging stations, expanding Vermont’s public transit systems and improving the resiliency of our transportation system to better withstand future disasters like Hurricane Irene.

Our nation’s waters and water systems are crucial to public health, the economy, and the environment. That is why Senator Sanders introduced the WATER Act, which would provide up to $35 billion a year for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure, creating nearly a million jobs. The bill would also expand funding for technical assistance to help rural and small municipalities and Native American governments improve their water and sewer systems. Furthermore, the WATER Act includes language to address contamination like lead and water shutoffs.

Finally, Senator Sanders is helping lead the effort to reduce carbon emissions in our transportation system. In 2019 the EPW committee-passed highway reauthorization included the first ever climate title, funding programs to build electric vehicle charging stations, reduce carbon emissions, and make our infrastructure more resilient to future disasters. He is working to improve transit service so more Vermonters have access to public transportation. Senator Sanders also helped secure federal funding for electric buses for transit and schools in Bennington, Burlington, Lyndonville, and the Upper Valley.