WASHINGTON–Congressman Michael Guest has serious concerns about the infrastructure bill that’s already been passed by the U.S. Senate and now must be considered by the House. He said in an interview with Kicks96 Thursday, that the bill is not totally paid for, and will add about $250 billion to the national debt.
“Of that $1.2 trillion, Mississippi would only be guaranteed a little over $3.3 billion. And, while that is a substantial sum of money, particularly when our annual infrastructure budget is $1.2 billion, I have great concerns.”
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One of those concerns is the long-term impact on the national debt, which is nearing $30 trillion. Another is that the plan includes some of what Guest says are not traditional infrastructure concerns, like environmental and green new energy proposals.
“At this point I would be very hesitant to support the legislation,” he said.
Guest said he is in Mississippi now, but when he returns to DC next week, part of his job will be to consider the bill.
He met with Mississippi’s transportation commissioners this week and, in general, discussed what they believe are Mississippi’s infrastructure needs. Those include money for roads, bridges and broadband.
U.S. @RepMichaelGuest met with the Mississippi Transportation Commission and MDOT Executive Director @BradleyRayWhite on Monday afternoon.
Guest highlighted initiatives he has recently been working on to support transportation infrastructure in Mississippi. pic.twitter.com/21AYvt7lak
— MDOT (@MississippiDOT) August 17, 2021
Guest said that while counties like Madison or Rankin may need more money for new roads as their population grows, more rural counties have different needs.
“While you may not need new roads, we need to make sure that the roads that we do have and the bridges that we do have are properly maintained.”
Guest said he believes progress has been made, especially with bridges, and that he wants to make sure Mississippi gets its share of federal money to match state money for roads, bridges and broadband.
