WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump's infrastructure proposal (all times local):

President Donald Trump is urging Congress to pass what he's calling the "biggest and boldest" infrastructure plan.

Trump is making his case as he meets with a group of local and state officials, including governors, state legislators, mayors and country commissioners.

Trump says local leaders understand the challenges of funding infrastructure and says his is a "common sense and bipartisan plan" that Congress should support.

He also says Washington should be a partner to local governments and no longer "a roadblock to progress."

Trump's plan envisions using $200 billion in federal money to leverage local and state tax dollars to fix roads, highways, ports and airports.

The plan would fulfill a key campaign goal but rely heavily on state and local government budgets.

President Donald Trump is meeting with a group of governors, mayors and local leaders at the White House to build support for his infrastructure proposal.

The White House says the meeting will include governors from eight states: Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Maine, New Mexico, Virginia, Nebraska and Wisconsin.

A number of mayors will be attending from cities like Las Vegas, Fort Worth, Texas, Charlotte, North Carolina and Wichita, Kansas. The gathering will also include state legislators and county commissioners.

The White House is releasing a 55-page "legislative outline" on the proposal, which envisions spurring $1.5 trillion in spending over a decade to rebuild roads, highways and airports.

The proposal would rely heavily on state and local government for much of the funding.

President Donald Trump is predicting a "big week" for the roll out of his administration's infrastructure plan.

The president tweeted Monday that after "so stupidly spending $7 trillion in the Middle East, it is now time to start investing in OUR Country!"

The White House is unveiling its goal of spurring $1.5 trillion in funding over 10 years to rebuild roads, highways, ports and airports. The plan centers on using $200 billion in federal money to leverage local and state dollars for the projects.

Trump is meeting with state and local leaders at the White House on Monday to discuss the plan.

President Donald Trump is unveiling his long-awaited infrastructure plan, a $1.5 trillion proposal that fulfills a number of his campaign goals. But it relies heavily on state and local governments to produce much of the funding.

The administration's plan is centered on using $200 billion in federal money to leverage local and state tax dollars to fix America's infrastructure, such as roads, highways, ports and airports.

Trump has repeatedly blamed the "crumbling" state of the nation's roads and highways for preventing the American economy from reaching its full potential. Many in Washington believe that Trump should have begun his term a year ago with an infrastructure push, one that could have garnered bipartisan support or, at minimum, placed Democrats in a bind for opposing a popular political measure.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> The White House on Monday officially released a 55-page proposal for President Trump Donald John TrumpTrump awards Medal of Valor, civilian honors to responders in Dayton and El Paso shootings Texas Democrats unveil 'path to victory' plan for 2020 The Hill's 12:30 Report: Congress returns with gun violence, funding atop agenda MORE's long-awaited infrastructure overhaul.

The plan puts forth a framework for lawmakers to craft legislation for a $1.5 trillion infrastructure package that would focus on public-private partnerships and funding from state and local governments.

The plan is structured around four main goals: generating $1.5 trillion for an infrastructure proposal, streamlining the permitting process down to two years, investing in rural infrastructure projects and advancing workforce training.

“My Administration’s plan addresses more than traditional infrastructure — like roads, bridges, and airports — but addresses other needs like drinking and wastewater systems, waterways, water resources, energy, rural infrastructure, public lands, veterans’ hospitals, and Brownfield and Superfund sites,” Trump said in the White House document.

“The reforms set forth in my plan will strengthen the economy, make our country more competitive, reduce the costs of goods and services for American families, and enable Americans to build their lives on top of the best infrastructure in the world.”

The federal government would contribute $200 billion to the package, a figure Democrats have already denounced as too small.

“After repeatedly failing to live up to his infrastructure promises, the release of Trump’s infrastructure plan today once again falls short,” the Democratic National Committee wrote in an email to reporters upon the proposal’s release.

ADVERTISEMENT

“Trump’s plan is just another giveaway to corporations and wealthy developers at the expense of American workers, and it fails to address some of the most pressing infrastructure needs our country faces.”

The administration said it used input from state and local officials, members of Congress, industry leaders and federal agencies to compile the framework.

The proposal confirms many previously leaked details about a White House rebuilding initiative, in which state and local governments, in addition to private investment, would foot much of the bill.

The plan is likely to face opposition from Democrats, who have already called for more direct federal investment; they released their own plan last week that boasted $1 trillion in government spending.

It's also sure to put the administration at odds with environmental groups, who worry that efforts to streamline permitting would hurt environmental protections.

The $200 billion will be included in the Trump administration's 2019 fiscal spending blueprint, which is also scheduled for release on Monday.

Half of the federal seed money would go toward an incentive program to match financing from state and local governments investing in rebuilding projects, while a quarter of the appropriations would be used for rural projects in the form of block grants to states so governors may decide where to invest.

Twenty billion would be for “transformative programs” meant for new projects rather than rehabilitation of old infrastructure. Another $20 billion is allocated to expand the use of loans and private activity bonds, a common tool used to fund infrastructure projects. The last $10 billion would go into a "capital financing fund."

Trump will host key lawmakers from both parties at the White House on Wednesday to continue the infrastructure discussion, providing the administration a chance to convince those critical of the proposal.

Some industry groups, however, praised the administration for breathing life into a subject experts have spent years arguing must be addressed to fix the nation's crumbling roads, bridges, transit systems and other public works.

“For years, plenty of people have been willing to talk about modernizing our nation’s infrastructure, but few have been willing to take action. We applaud the Trump administration for laying out its vision for moving ahead on this critical issue,” Tom Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement ahead of the plan’s unveiling.

Updated at 11:20 a.m. </s> The Latest on President Donald Trump's infrastructure proposal (all times local):

President Donald Trump is predicting a "big week" for the roll out of his administration's infrastructure plan.

The president tweeted Monday that after "so stupidly spending $7 trillion in the Middle East, it is now time to start investing in OUR Country!"

The White House is unveiling its goal of spurring $1.5 trillion in funding over 10 years to rebuild roads, highways, ports and airports. The plan centers on using $200 billion in federal money to leverage local and state dollars for the projects.

Trump is meeting with state and local leaders at the White House on Monday to discuss the plan.

President Donald Trump is unveiling his long-awaited infrastructure plan, a $1.5 trillion proposal that fulfills a number of his campaign goals. But it relies heavily on state and local governments to produce much of the funding.

The administration's plan is centered on using $200 billion in federal money to leverage local and state tax dollars to fix America's infrastructure, such as roads, highways, ports and airports.

Trump has repeatedly blamed the "crumbling" state of the nation's roads and highways for preventing the American economy from reaching its full potential. Many in Washington believe that Trump should have begun his term a year ago with an infrastructure push, one that could have garnered bipartisan support or, at minimum, placed Democrats in a bind for opposing a popular political measure. </s> WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump today unveiled a massive $1.5 trillion plan to modernise America's infrastructure including $200 billion in federal funding Describing it as a most comprehensive infrastructure bill in the history of the US, Trump said the plan addresses more than traditional infrastructure - like roads, bridges and airports - such as drinking and wastewater systems, waterways, water resources, energy, rural infrastructure, public lands, veterans' hospitals and Brownfield and Superfund sites."To help build a better future for all Americans, I ask the Congress to act soon on an infrastructure bill that will: stimulate at least $1.5 trillion in new investment over the next 10 years, shorten the process for approving projects to two years or less, address unmet rural infrastructure needs, empower State and local authorities and train the American workforce of the future," Trump said in a message to the Congress."The reforms set forth in my plan will strengthen the economy, make our country more competitive, reduce the costs of goods and services for American families and enable Americans to build their lives on top of the best infrastructure in the world," Trump said.According to the plan, new investments will be made in rural America which has been left behind for too long, decision making authority will be returned to State and local governments, regulatory barriers that needlessly get in the way of infrastructure projects will be removed, permitting for infrastructure projects will be streamlined and shortened.Noting that $200 billion in Federal funds will spur at least $1.5 trillion in new infrastructure investments, the White House said federal infrastructure spending will promote State, local and private investments and maximise the value of every taxpayer dollar.Of the $200 billion, $100 billion will create an Incentives Programme to spur additional dedicated funds from States, localities and the private sector.$20 billion will be dedicated to the Transformative Projects Programme. $20 billion will be allocated to expanding infrastructure financing programmes. Of the $20 billion, $14 billion will go to expanding a number of existing credit programmes: TIFIA, WIFIA, RRIF and rural utility lending.While $6 billion will go to expanding Private Activity Bonds , $10 billion will go to a new Federal Capital Revolving Fund which will reduce inefficient leasing of Federal real property which would be more cost-effective to purchase.According to the White House, $50 billion of the $200 billion in direct Federal funding will be devoted to a new Rural Infrastructure Programme to rebuild and modernise infrastructure in rural America."The bulk of the dollars in the Rural Infrastructure Programme will be allocated to State governors, giving States the flexibility to prioritise their communities' needs. The remaining funds will be distributed through rural performance grants to encourage the best use of taxpayer dollars," the White House said.Working with Congress, the White House said that the administration will establish a "one agency, one decision" structure for environmental reviews, shorten the lengthy environmental review process to two years while still protecting the environment, eliminate certain redundant and inefficient provisions in environmental laws and create two new pilot programmes to test new ways to improve the environmental review process. </s> Welcome to Mic’s daily read on Donald Trump’s America. Want to receive this as a daily email in your inbox? Subscribe here.

Legislators in Washington, D.C., will review several policy proposals, beginning Monday, that will kick off weeks of debate about the federal budget, infrastructure, immigration and more. This comes off Friday’s move by lawmakers to increase federal spending by $300 billion over the next two years — and fund the government through March 23.

The budget: On Sunday evening, President Donald Trump introduced his budget for 2019. The proposal would cut $3 trillion from the federal deficit over the next decade. The White House was not specific about which programs would be slashed to accomplish those cuts. More details are expected to be released Monday morning.

Much of the budget Trump introduced in 2017 didn’t come to pass, as Congress preserved funding for dozens of federal programs the administration wanted to slash. The budget could prove even more irrelevant to Congress this year, given the passage of a two-year budget plan on Friday. Still, Trump is likely to use this budget to rally his base by saying he’s investing heavily in border security and the military while cutting “wasteful Washington spending.” Democrats will slam the White House for again calling for cuts to programs that help the poor, research disease or feed the elderly.

Of note: This plan will drop the traditional GOP vision of balancing the federal budget within ten years.

Infrastructure: Monday will also bring the introduction of Trump’s infrastructure plan. The proposal will be sold as a $1.5 trillion investment over the next 10 years into America’s bridges, roads and airports. In reality, the legislation would spend $200 billion in federal dollars to attract $1.3 trillion in local, state and private investment. The administration says it will focus on cutting “red tape” to greatly reduce how long it takes to approve construction, and draw the $200 billion from thus far unspecified cuts to existing programs.

The American Society for Civil Engineers says the U.S. needs to spend $4.59 trillion on repairing the country’s infrastructure by 2025. That makes the federal investment in this plan a drop in the bucket, and the total promised investment wholly insufficient. Still, this will be the first time Congress seriously considers a major infrastructure bill since Democrats passed the stimulus package under former President Barack Obama, which spent $80 billion on infrastructure. Trump’s package would be a 250% increase over Obama’s.

Immigration: The Senate will kick off its promised open debate on immigration this week, with a conservative bill that resembles the legislation outlined by Trump. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) promised Democrats that if they agreed to continue funding the government, he would support open debate on an immigration bill — a rare and uncalculated move for the senator. Congress has until March 5 to pass legislation that protects Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients whose status has already expired, and preserve the program permanently.

It’s unclear if this process will work. Trump has been clear that in exchange for a pathway to citizenship for 1.8 million people brought to the United States as minors, he wants to see reforms that drastically reduce who can come to the U.S., and who can come with them. That aspect is going nowhere with Democrats, at least nine of whom must support the proposal in the Senate for the legislation to move forward. And whatever clears the Senate will face immediate problems in the House, where Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) must work carefully to not lose a majority of his caucus in supporting a Senate-passed immigration bill.

Other policy advances: Vice President Mike Pence told the Washington Post during his trip home from the Olympics that the U.S. is ready to talk with North Korea. The South Koreans will take the lead in near-term negotiations, Pence said, potentially followed shortly thereafter by the U.S.

Unlike Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt, Scott Gottlieb has found a way to protect public health while pleasing the health industry where he worked as a practicing doctor and academic at New York University, the New York Times reported. The Food and Drug Administration commissioner has won praise from former critics, who were initially wary of his industry ties but approve of his approach after a year.

The Trump administration wants to make the International Space Station commercially run by 2024, the Washington Post reported.

Today’s question: Which of these policy proposals will you watch the closest?

Please email us at trumpsamerica@mic.com with your thoughts.

Coalitions in Congress could quickly form or collapse on immigration. Lawmakers made clear after the State of the Union and throughout last week that reaching 60 votes in the Senate on an immigration bill will be extremely difficult. So this may go nowhere.

Acknowledging that reality, White House officials have begun floating a plan that would maintain current immigration levels — a dramatic shift from the initial Trump proposal, which critics say could cut immigration by up to 40%.

Are you watching this? From Politico: “Progressive insurgents are launching challenges to Democratic members of Congress in some of the country’s bluest districts, sparked by deep frustration with the party establishment and anti-Trump anger.”

In that vein: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) stood for eight hours on Thursday to demand the House vote to protect DACA recipients. But after the House passed a budget bill she voted against, Pelosi praised the legislation.

Pelosi has walked a fine line to stay in power as progressives and moderates alike take issue with her approach. Can she survive until the midterms?

ICYMI: Rachel Brand, the No. 3 official at the Department of Justice, announce d Friday she will resign. She would have inherited oversight of the Trump-Russia investigation if the president fired Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

John Kelly: Top officials say Trump continues to have confidence in White House chief of staff John Kelly, who reportedly considered resigning Friday over his handling of domestic abuse allegations against staff secretary Rob Porter.

Over the weekend, Trump appeared to tweet a defense of Porter by saying “a mere allegation” can ruin someone’s life. Porter’s ex-wives provided photographic evidence of his alleged abuse. One of them took out a protective order against Porter.

Mic’s Jack Smith IV introduces us to the right’s billionaire megadonor family, the Mercers — known climate change deniers and bankrolllers for far-right ideologies.

Click or tap below to watch. </s> The assumptions in Monday’s release are also significantly more optimistic than the Trump administration itself used in its budget calculations last year.

Most notably, the administration projected annualized economic growth of 3.1 percent over the next three years. In December, the Federal Reserve projected annualized growth of 2.2 percent over that period. The Survey of Professional Forecasters estimated the annualized growth rate to be about 2.4 percent.

The centerpiece of Mr. Trump’s budget is a plan to devote $200 billion over the next decade in new spending to improve the country’s crumbling infrastructure, starting with $44.6 billion in 2019. The president says the plan will generate as much as $1.5 trillion to $1.7 trillion in new investments in building roads, bridges and other major projects over the next 10 years, in large part relying on states, cities and private companies to fund them. But the proposal faces steep challenges in Congress, where many lawmakers believe $200 billion is far too little to create a sustainable stream of federal infrastructure money for the future.

“We will build, we will maintain, and the vast majority of Americans wants to see us take care of our infrastructure,” Mr. Trump said Monday at the White House as he released an outline of the plan and discussed it with cabinet officials, governors and local leaders. “Washington will no longer be a roadblock to progress; Washington will now be your partner.”

Still, the budget compensates for the new infusion of infrastructure spending in part by slashing existing transportation programs, which would be cut by $178 billion over a decade, according to a detailed budget breakdown the Trump administration sent Monday to Capitol Hill. Grants to Amtrak would be halved, from $1.2 trillion to $538 billion, while the Army Corps of Engineers, which manages vast amounts of public infrastructure projects, would see a more than 20 percent cut.

Lawmakers in both parties, who essentially went around Mr. Trump to strike their own budget compromise, made it clear they had no intention of embracing Mr. Trump’s plan. </s> WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Monday will unveil his long-awaited infrastructure plan, a $1.5 trillion proposal that fulfills a number of campaign goals, but relies heavily on state and local governments to produce much of the funding.

The administration’s plan is centered on using $200 billion in federal money to leverage local and state tax dollars to fix America’s infrastructure, such as roads, highways, ports and airports.

“Every federal dollar should be leveraged by partnering with state and local governments and — where appropriate — tapping into private sector investment to permanently fix the infrastructure deficit,” Trump said at last month’s State of the Union address.

Trump has repeatedly blamed the “crumbling” state of the nation’s roads and highways for preventing the American economy from reaching its full potential. Many in Washington believe that Trump should have begun his term a year ago with an infrastructure push, one that could have garnered bipartisan support or, at minimum, placed Democrats in a bind for opposing a popular political measure.

But the administration chose to begin with health care and relations with Democrats have only grown more strained during a turbulent, contentious year. The White House, now grappling with the fallout from the departure of a senior aide after spousal abuse allegations, may not have an easy time navigating a massive infrastructure plan through a polarized Congress. It just grappled with two federal government shutdowns and will soon turns its attention to immigration.

Administration officials previewing the plan said it would feature two key components: an injection of funding for new investments and help speed up repairs of crumbling roads and airports, as well as a streamlined permitting process that would truncate the wait time to get projects underway. Officials said the $200 billion in federal support would come from cuts to existing programs.

Half the money would go to grants for transportation, water, flood control, cleanup at some of the country’s most polluted sites and other projects.

States, local governments and other project sponsors could use the grants — which administration officials view as incentives — for no more than 20 percent of the cost. Transit agencies generally count on the federal government for half the cost of major construction projects, and federal dollars can make up as much as 80 percent of some highway projects.

About $50 billion, would go toward rural projects — transportation, broadband, water, waste, power, flood management and ports. That is intended to address criticism from some Republican senators that the administration’s initial emphasis on public-private partnerships would do little to help rural, GOP-leaning states

Early reaction to the proposal was divided.

Jay Timmons, president of the National Association of Manufacturers, saluted Trump “for providing the leadership we have desperately needed to reclaim our rightful place as global leader on true 21st-century infrastructure.”

“When ports are clogged, trucks are delayed, power is down, water is shut off, or the internet has a lapse, modern manufacturers’ ability to compete is threatened and jobs are put at risk,” said Timmons. “There is no excuse for inaction, and manufacturers are committed to ensuring that America seizes this opportunity.”

But a number of Democrats and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have pushed the administration to commit far more federal dollars, funded by tax increases, or by closing tax loopholes. And environmental groups expressed worry about its impact.

“President Trump’s infrastructure proposal is a disaster,” said Shelley Poticha, of the Natural Resources Defense Council. “It fails to offer the investment needed to bring our country into the 21st century. Even worse, his plan includes an unacceptable corporate giveaway by truncating environmental reviews.” </s> President Trump put underperforming federal workers on notice Monday, including in his $4 trillion budget plan a major overhaul for how hiring and firing is done in the D.C. bureaucracy.

Following on Trump’s campaign promise to “drain the swamp,” the plan calls for several big changes. This includes ending automatic pay hikes that kick in “irrespective of performance,” changing retirement benefits and making it easier to fire bad employees and reward good ones.

“The workforce and the workplace have evolved in recent decades. But the Government personnel system remains a relic of an earlier era. Federal workers themselves overwhelmingly agree in surveys that the existing system fails to reward the best performers or appropriately deal with the worst performers,” a White House budget fact sheet reads, describing the plan as bringing the government in line with private-sector practices.

Trump previewed the plan in his first State of the Union address last month. During the speech, the president called on Congress to “empower every Cabinet Secretary with the authority to reward good workers and to remove federal employees who undermine the public trust or fail the American people.” – READ MORE

President Trump is calling to pump $1.5 trillion into fixing America’s infrastructure while streamlining the often-cumbersome permitting process, as part of a $4 trillion-plus budget plan unveiled Monday.

“Washington will no longer be a roadblock to progress. Washington will now be your partner,” Trump said at a meeting with state and local officials at the White House.

Unlike last year’s plan, the fiscal 2019 blueprint does not seek to balance the budget over the next decade. Combined with a newly passed spending deal and sweeping tax cuts, the budget would see the federal deficit once again rising past $1 trillion in the near-term.

Under the plan, $200 billion of the $1.5 trillion in proposed spending would be federal dollars, which a senior administration official said would come from “reductions in other areas of the budget.” The plan calls on state and local governments and the private sector to put up most of the funding. The federal funding would be used to match local spending, provide “incentives” and expand loan programs.

The plan also would boost investment for projects in rural America — including transportation, broadband, water, waste, power, flood management and ports — by $50 billion in a bid to address criticism from some Republican senators that the Trump administration’s initial emphasis on public-private partnerships would do little to help those areas. – READ MORE </s> WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday will unveil his long-awaited infrastructure plan, a $1.5 trillion proposal that fulfills a number of campaign goals, but relies heavily on state and local governments to produce much of the funding.

The administration’s plan is centered on using $200 billion in federal money to leverage local and state tax dollars to fix America’s infrastructure, such as roads, highways, ports and airports.

“Every federal dollar should be leveraged by partnering with state and local governments and — where appropriate — tapping into private sector investment to permanently fix the infrastructure deficit,” Trump said at last month’s State of the Union address.

Trump has repeatedly blamed the “crumbling” state of the nation’s roads and highways for preventing the American economy from reaching its full potential. Many in Washington believe that Trump should have begun his term a year ago with an infrastructure push, one that could have garnered bipartisan support or, at minimum, placed Democrats in a bind for opposing a popular political measure.

But the administration chose to begin with health care and relations with Democrats have only grown more strained during a turbulent, contentious year. The White House, now grappling with the fallout from the departure of a senior aide after spousal abuse allegations, may not have an easy time navigating a massive infrastructure plan through a polarized Congress. It just grappled with two federal government shutdowns and will soon turns its attention to immigration.

Administration officials previewing the plan said it would feature two key components: an injection of funding for new investments and help speed up repairs of crumbling roads and airports, as well as a streamlined permitting process that would truncate the wait time to get projects underway. Officials said the $200 billion in federal support would come from cuts to existing programs.

Half the money would go to grants for transportation, water, flood control, cleanup at some of the country’s most polluted sites and other projects.

States, local governments and other project sponsors could use the grants — which administration officials view as incentives — for no more than 20 percent of the cost. Transit agencies generally count on the federal government for half the cost of major construction projects, and federal dollars can make up as much as 80 percent of some highway projects.

About $50 billion, would go toward rural projects — transportation, broadband, water, waste, power, flood management and ports. That is intended to address criticism from some Republican senators that the administration’s initial emphasis on public-private partnerships would do little to help rural, GOP-leaning states

Early reaction to the proposal was divided.

Jay Timmons, president of the National Association of Manufacturers, saluted Trump “for providing the leadership we have desperately needed to reclaim our rightful place as global leader on true 21st-century infrastructure.”

“When ports are clogged, trucks are delayed, power is down, water is shut off, or the internet has a lapse, modern manufacturers’ ability to compete is threatened and jobs are put at risk,” said Timmons. “There is no excuse for inaction, and manufacturers are committed to ensuring that America seizes this opportunity.”

But a number of Democrats and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have pushed the administration to commit far more federal dollars, funded by tax increases, or by closing tax loopholes. And environmental groups expressed worry about its impact.

“President Trump’s infrastructure proposal is a disaster,” said Shelley Poticha, of the Natural Resources Defense Council. “It fails to offer the investment needed to bring our country into the 21st century. Even worse, his plan includes an unacceptable corporate giveaway by truncating environmental reviews.”

Follow Lemire on Twitter at http://twitter.com/@JonLemire and Crutsinger at http://twitter.com/@mcrutsinger
President Trump also introduces his US$1.5 trillion federal infrastructure plan to several governors and mayors at the White House.