Newsroom / Archives

Editorial: Bridges to somewhere (Boston Globe)

IN SEPTEMBER alone, the construction industry shed 35,000 jobs nationally, the 15th consecutive month the industry saw payrolls drop. September was also the month that Senate Republicans blocked a $56 billion stimulus package that would have funded infrastructure projects. Immediately after the election, Congress should pass an even more ambitious package, at least $150 billion, to create jobs, prevent consumer spending from freezing up, and repair crumbling roads and bridges.

Support for such a package has doubtless grown in just the past few weeks because of the accumulating signs that the country is entering a recession. Also, both Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and President Bush have now indicated they would back such a boost for the economy. If Republicans in the Senate balk again, Democratic leaders should not trim their proposals to the GOP's liking but simply wait until January when, according to most polls, the Democrats are likely to see their majorities in both chambers grow.

In past recessions, economists have looked askance at infrastructure funding as a job-creation measure. By the time projects move from drawing board to pavement, the economy is often back on its feet. This time, however, all signs point to a longer downturn, and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials says there are 3,000 projects on the shelf awaiting funding. Each $1 billion invested in mass transit or highways leads to 47,500 well-paying jobs.

A stimulus package should also include payments to states to keep them from laying off workers as tax revenues shrink. One efficient mechanism for this that Representative Barney Frank has proposed is to expand Washington's share of Medicaid funding. Also needed are extended unemployment benefits, increased food stamps, and tax-rate reductions for lower- and middle-income workers.

At the Globe on Friday, Frank said he looked forward to a stimulus package with all these elements. He and other members of Congress should take special care not to scrimp on investments in infrastructure, which has suffered from decades of neglect. Hurricane Katrina drew attention to the nation's deteriorating levees and dams; the Minneapolis bridge collapse to the 150,000 US bridges rated as deficient. The blackout of 2003 showed the need for an improved power transmission system. Yes, the economy needs the kick-start of a stimulus package, but it also needs that package to upgrade the nation's concrete and cable neurons.