Ahead of Donald Trump’s visit to Richfield, Ohio today, Midwest Press Secretary Mandy McClure released the following statement:

“Trump claims his infrastructure plan will boost our economy and create jobs, but in reality his plan falls far short and fails to address some of the most pressing infrastructure needs our country faces. If Trump actually cared about investing in infrastructure projects and growing our economy, he wouldn’t be simultaneously proposing infrastructure cuts along with a wide range of cuts to workforce development programs that help Americans gain the skills they need to find jobs. Instead, Trump’s plan shifts a heavy burden onto state and local taxpayers, prioritizes corporations and wealthy developers at the expense of American workers, and guts environmental protections that protect our public health. Democrats agree that we need to invest in our nation’s infrastructure, but we need a path forward that creates jobs, raises wages, and benefits all Americans – not just corporations.”

Trump’s infrastructure plan does not prioritize American manufacturing.

Bloomberg: “Donald Trump’s proposal to upgrade U.S. infrastructure was met with a collective groan from American manufacturers who complained that the president ignored his ‘Buy America’ promises.”

Trump’s infrastructure plan prioritizes corporate profits over public benefits.

New York Times: “President Trump’s $200 billion plan to rebuild America upends the criteria that have long been used to pick ambitious federal projects, putting little emphasis on how much an infrastructure proposal benefits the public and more on finding private investors and other outside sources of money.”

Trump’s infrastructure plan does not provide adequate financing and could increase costs for working families.

NPR: “But the word ‘generate’ is not the same as ‘spend,’ as the Trump administration's plan proposes to allocate just a fraction of that ambitious goal, $200 billion over 10 years, with most of the rest of the funding burden shifted onto states and local governments.”

Huffington Post: “Do You Like Paying Tolls? You’re Gonna Love Trump’s Infrastructure Plan”

Trump’s plan would not spur the investment needed to rebuild vital infrastructure in Ohio and across the country.

CNBC: “Trump infrastructure plan comes up $1 trillion short of its funding goal, analysis finds.”

Plain Dealer: “Infrastructure in the U.S. scored a D+ on the most recent report card by the American Society of Civil Engineers … ‘This deteriorating infrastructure impedes Ohio's ability to compete in an increasingly global marketplace,’ the report said. ‘Delaying these investments only escalates the cost and risks of an aging infrastructure system, an option that the country, Ohio, and families can no longer afford.’”

Trump’s budget cut or froze employment programs and job training grants, and that helped spur job creation and economic development in rural areas.

Washington Post: “Shrink funding for Adult Employment and Training Activities, which serve veterans, Native Americans and young people who have dropped out of high school, by nearly half, from $810 million in 2017 to $490.3 million in 2019.”

Bloomberg: “The proposal to slash the DOL’s budget by $1.1 billion, to $10.9 billion, next year includes a $407 million reduction in spending on Job Corps centers for disadvantaged youth and $400 million in savings from eliminating the Senior Community Service Employment Program.”

Trump decided to push a $1.5 trillion tax giveaway primarily to the wealthy and big corporations instead of making a significant federal investment in infrastructure to directly benefit middle-class workers.

Associated Press: “Trump's infrastructure proposal has seen less interest in Congress. It relies mostly on private and local government funding, with about $200 billion in federal investment.”

Much of the $200 billion for Trump’s infrastructure proposal came from budget cuts to federal transit programs, including the department of Transit’s Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Grant Program which is a major source of transit funding in Ohio.

UPI: “Much of the $200 billion will be found in cuts to federal transit programs and to the Department of Transportation's Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant program, which offers funding based on the needs of applying communities.”

Plain Dealer: “The TIGER grant program – a $499 million program – is a major source of transit funding in Ohio, which restricts its gas tax revenue to road projects.”

Senate Democrats have proposed a plan to reinvest the massive windfalls Republicans gave to the wealthy and big corporations to rebuild our nation’s infrastructure and create middle-class jobs.

Washington Post: “Democrats to unveil $1 trillion infrastructure plan, seek reversal of GOP tax cuts to finance it.”

Associated Press: “For Senate Democrats, voting against the Republican tax cuts that President Donald Trump signed into law wasn’t opposition enough. Now they have a plan to reverse some of the tax breaks for corporations and the wealthiest Americans and put the money instead toward a $1 trillion infrastructure package.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer: “We believe overwhelmingly the American people will prefer building infrastructure and creating close to 15 million middle-class jobs than giving tax breaks for the wealthy.”