Amy Klobuchar dives into 2020 policy with $1 trillion infrastructure plan
FILE - In this Jan. 15, 2109 file photo, Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) (AP)
Democratic candidate Amy Klobuchar delved into her first massive policy proposal ahead of the 2020 presidential election on Thursday morning, releasing a $1 trillion plan to rebuild the country’s infrastructure.
In a Medium post, the Minnesota senator outlined a wide-ranging, seven-point plan that addresses a number of problems varying from crumbling roads, highways and bridges to a lack of clean drinking water.
Klobuchar, who has billed herself as a pragmatic moderate willing to reach across the aisle in a crowded field of increasingly progressive Democrats, called infrastructure a top budget proposal that she’d work to accomplish during the first year of her presidency -- a jab at President Trump, who twice has promised to deliver infrastructure legislation only to “leave the details up to lawmakers,” she said.
The plan is funded by a combination of $650 billion in federal funding, a return to the Obama-era “Build America Bonds” (which provided states and local governments with a direct 35 percent subsidy in lieu of traditional tax-exempt bonds) and a series of corporate tax reforms, including raising the corporate tax rate to 25 percent from the current 21 percent and closing loopholes that encourage U.S. companies to operate overseas.
In addition to rebuilding roads and bridges, Klobuchar said the money would go toward protecting against flooding; expanding reliable public transit options; rebuilding schools and overhauling the country’s housing policy; connecting every household to the internet by 2022; and building green infrastructure that relies on clean energy.
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“Amy has a concrete, commonsense proposal that will invest in our future and make sure our country’s infrastructure is second to none,” the proposal said.
Klobuchar pointed to her involvement in securing emergency funds to help rebuild the Interstate 35W bridge over the Mississippi River in Minnesota, which collapsed in 2007, killing 13 people.