Esty touts importance of investing in national infrastructure at Torrington event

TORRINGTON — U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty, D-5, came to Torrington Friday to discuss the virtues of investing in national infrastructure, including American ports, bridges, water systems, and the country’s broadband network, with Mayor Elinor Carbone and other officials.

Esty’s visit was spurred by a new plan compiled by the Congressional Problem Solvers’ Caucus Infrastructure Working Group, which she co-chairs along with John Katko, R-New York.

It aims to provide “bipartisan policy solutions that will improve our highways, roads and bridges, transit and railways, ports and airports, water and sewer systems, energy systems and the power grid, and broadband and communications networks,” according to the document’s executive summary.

Among other ideas, the report suggests tying the federal gas tax — which goes to pay for upgrades to the country’s transportation infrastructure, but has remained level since 1993 — to an index that adjusts over time, such as the rate of inflation or the Consumer Price Index.

It recommends dedicating the entirety of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, which has had funds diverted by Congress for other purposes, to pay for work on ports and harbors.

This is both an economic and national security issue, Esty said - investing in ports would relieve pressure on U.S. borders, as they seek to consider other potential issues, such as terrorism, opiates, and guns.

It also suggests providing further funding for efforts to add broadband access into rural areas — an issue in both rural Montana and in the Northwest Corner, Esty said - and addressing water-related infrastructure in the United States, in part through the creation of an agency to “directly support high-risk, high-rewards technology development,” funding the federally-stocked revolving funds that go to address local water treatment facilities through loans, and considering the possibility of unnecessary or duplicative regulation.

Esty, Carbone, and other officials in attendance — who included JoAnn Ryan of the Northwest Connecticut Chamber of Commerce, Donald J. Shubert, president of the Connecticut Construction Industries Association and David Roche of the Connecticut State Building & Construction Trades Council, agreed that there that there is great value in investing in the country’s infrastructure.

“This is huge. These are the things a municipality can’t do; these are the things that we just can’t afford to do, and we do rely on Congress to recognize that infrastructure — roads, ports, and broadband — that’s our economic stimulus,” said Carbone. “The only way to get these things done is bipartisan, and that starts from the ground roots at the municipal level. We’ll do what we can to support this because this is so necessary.”

Investing in infrastructure would, in turn, pay further economic dividends, city Economic Development Director Erin Wilson said — attracting higher-quality jobs and enticing young people to make their lives in the state.

Esty said American infrastructure is, and has allowed for, the country’s heritage.

“We’re trying to remind everybody in this report that that is part of the majesty of the Golden Gate Bridge — it’s beautiful, but It’s also transformative to our economy, as was the intercontinental railway; as was the interstate highway system, as the internet has been for the whole world,” said Esty. “And we need to make sure we maintain and upgrade the system. And we can’t do it with duct tape — we actually have to pay for it. And Democrats and Republicans have got to work together, and with the White House, to make that happen.”