The budget also calls for a limit to federal funding for New Starts, a federal infrastructure grant program<br />that is anticipated as a major source of funding for the proposed Gateway tunnel that would relieve the aging and decrepit 100-year old Hudson River rail tunnels in New York.<br />Budget Blueprint Puts His Promises on Infrastructure in Doubt -<br />By ALAN RAPPEPORT and NICK CORASANITIMARCH 17, 2017<br />WASHINGTON — President Trump’s budget was billed as a blueprint for acting on campaign pledges,<br />but neglected in his cascade of spending cuts to federal agencies and largess for the military and border protection was one of his biggest promises: investing in infrastructure.<br />At the time, he proposed something akin to a federal infrastructure bank, saying, “We’ll get<br />a fund, make a phenomenal deal with low interest rates and rebuild our infrastructure.”<br />Infrastructure was one potential issue where Mr. Trump could have cut a deal with Democrats,<br />who have long seen big government projects as a method of creating jobs for their voters.<br />As a candidate Mr. Trump also made repeated proclamations<br />that he would rebuild the country’s “inner cities,” putting forth a “New Deal for Black America” in the final days of his campaign that specifically called for new infrastructure investment.<br />Amtrak released a statement saying that eliminating funding for long-distance service would impact “many of the 500 communities we serve.” Zeroing out funding for long-haul<br />Amtrak routes could impact the profitability of the successful segments of the national rail network by cutting off feeder lines to the Northeast Corridor.
