Guest column: Invest now in infrastructure, to keep our economy afloat

Flattening the infection curve should not be the only concern; Louisiana needs to focus on flattening the unemployment curve. During the COVID-19 crisis, we have found that “public service” extends beyond the men and women in uniform; the term now encompasses the single parent working at the grocery store, the nurse putting her life on the line to support those infected with the disease, or even the WAITR deliverer bringing food to your doorstep.But what about those hardworking construction workers keeping our roadways, pipelines, and infrastructure safe? The new stay-at-home order has not affected the $700 million infrastructure funding package approved by the Legislature last year, but the workers and businesses supporting it have been affected.We need to protect our construction companies, not just to help our state’s infrastructure but to slow the bleeding of our hemorrhaging economy. Gov. John Bel Edwards needs to split his focus to unnecessary job loss. The government needs to fundamentally speed up emergency infrastructure contracts so our construction firms can get to work. With unemployment surging and tax revenues declining, rather than delaying projects the government should immediately expand them.Now is the time to widen and improve our roads, repair our shipping channels and… Read full this story

Guest column: Invest now in infrastructure, to keep our economy afloat have 309 words, post on www.theadvocate.com at April 14, 2020. This is cached page on CuBird. If you want remove this page, please contact us.