Cornett & Nutter Pen Op-Ed for Public Works Financing: "We're At The Finish Line"
In an Op-Ed for the Public Works Financing newsletter, Let's Build Infrastructure Co-Chairs Mick Cornett, former Mayor of Oklahoma City, and Michael Nutter, former Mayor of Philadelphia, call on Congress to pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Legislation and present it to President Biden to sign. The mayors emphasize the point that this much-needed legislation has strong bipartisan support and we can't afford to scuttle this opportunity with partisan brinkmanship.
"It’s a bad movie that has played out all too often in Washington D.C.: hard‐earned progress undone at the last minute by partisan politics. Unlike a cinematic production that ends when the credits roll, the drama in Washington D.C. has real‐life consequences, none of which are helpful for the American public.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Senate passed a bipartisan $1 trillion dollar infrastructure package. It had buy‐in and support from the leaders of both parties, as well as from the Biden White House. In the words of the New York Times, the vote was “uncommonly biparti‐ san.” Neither side was claiming complete victory, and extremes on both ends were unhappy – two tell‐tale signs of a true compromise.
Fast forward to today and the future of the legisla‐ tion is murky, caught in the crossfire between Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin and their debate over a sepa‐ rate and much larger $3.5 trillion dollar spending bill..."