President Donald Trump’s proposed budget plan could threaten $38 billion in funding for planned public transportation projects, leaving thousands of construction and transit jobs at risk if the blueprint is approved.
If Congress approves the President’s suggested budget cuts, an estimated 800,000 jobs associated with upcoming transit projects could be cut, in addition to another 300,000 long-term positions needed to oversee the projects’ economic productivity, according to a report from the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) and the Economic Development Research Group.
Despite his repeated calls for a $1 trillion infrastructure stimulus, Trump’s proposal would slash $2.4 billion — or 13% — of the Department of Transportation’s budget. A number of programs, including Amtrak’s long-distance train service, the Essential Air Service that guarantees flights for rural communities, and several grants to fund rapid transit projects throughout the country, stand to lose significant funding or fold altogether.
“These proposed cuts will devastate the working class by causing job losses and turning back the economic progress being made on Main Street America,” Richard White, acting president and CEO of APTA, said in the report.
Last year, the GOP released a 58-page document detailing its platform for the 2016 campaign that called for the complete elimination of federal funding for mass transit, bike-share, sidewalk and rail projects. The report comes as Congress seeks to reach a deal in order to fund the government through September.