The Hill News

As the president pushes hard for Congressional passage of his proposed $60 billion infrastructure bank, it’s important to ensure that any taxpayer money is invested wisely enough to earn a long-term dividendâ€"rather than end up as a leaky short-term bailout.

The president is likely to earn a great deal of public support as he focuses on the importance of getting Americans back to work. As Obama said in Washington, “Of all the industries hammered by the economic downturn, construction has been hardest hit. It makes absolutely no sense when there’s so much work to be done that they’re not doing the work.”

But the policy that guides the way in which work is performed also matters a great deal. There’s a high price tag for repairing and replacing the infrastructure we rely on every day and we must ensure that any investments use the most efficient, sustainable technologies that will give stakeholders and taxpayers a long-term return on investme! nt.

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