Special Briefing on Strategies for Closing the US Infrastructure Gap

From the deteriorating Gowanus Expressway in Brooklyn, New York, to the aging dams that supply about 70 percent of California’s water, America’s public infrastructure is badly in need of fixing. The nation is estimated to have accumulated about $1 trillion in deferred infrastructure maintenance, and even more will be needed to rebuild or retrofit roads, water plants, schools, and electrical grids to withstand the punishments of increasingly extreme weather. William Glasgall, Penn IUR Fellow and Volcker Alliance Public Finance Adviser, Susan Wachter, Co-Director of Penn IUR and Wharton professor, and our expert panel discuss the state of America’s infrastructure and how some states are developing strategies to better identify and fund needed investments. Panelists include:

• Geoffrey Buswick, Managing Director & Sector Leader in U.S. Public Finance, S&P Global Ratings
• Camila Fonseca Sarmiento, Director of Fiscal Research, Institute for Urban and Regional Infrastructure Finance
• Hughey Newsome, Chief Financial Officer, Sound Transit
• Leslie Richards, Professor of Practice, City and Regional Planning, Weitzman School of Design and Former CEO of SEPTA
• Fatima Yousofi, Senior Officer, The Pew Charitable Trusts.

This Special Briefing was the latest in a series of 60-minute online discussions featuring distinguished guests from Penn IUR and the Volcker Alliance’s national research networks, along with other leading academics, economists, and federal, state, and local leaders. These convenings are made possible by funding from The Travelers Institute, members of the Penn IUR Advisory Board, and the Volcker Alliance.

This briefing is the sixty-second in a series of sixty-minute online conversations on public finance featuring experts from the national research networks of the Volcker Alliance and Penn IUR, along with other leading academics, economists, and federal, state, and local leaders. 

Special Briefings are made possible by funding from The Travelers Institute, the Volcker Alliance, and members of the Penn IUR Advisory Board. Recordings of the entire Special Briefings series are available on the Volcker Alliance or Penn IUR websites. 

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