Subject: Re: For Research: Sample infrastructure materials
From: "Helmstetter, TJ" <[email-masked]>
To: "Crystal, Andy" <[email-masked]>
Cc: "Walsh, Tom" <[email-masked]>, RR2 <[email-masked]>, "Paustenbach, Mark" <[email-masked]>, "Miranda, Luis" <[email-masked]>, "Palermo, Rachel" <[email-masked]>, "Price, Jenna" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 16 May 2016 16:56:03 -0700

Thanks!!

Sent from my iPhone

On May 16, 2016, at 7:54 PM, Crystal, Andy <[email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>> wrote:

Working on it now, sending shortly

From: Helmstetter, TJ
Sent: Monday, May 16, 2016 7:54 PM
To: Walsh, Tom
Cc: RR2; Paustenbach, Mark; Miranda, Luis; Palermo, Rachel; Price, Jenna
Subject: Re: For Research: Sample infrastructure materials

Hey team, had promised the state parties they'd get this today. Thank you.

Sent from my iPhone

On May 16, 2016, at 6:07 PM, Walsh, Tom <[email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>> wrote:
Below:
1. Advisory
2. Letters
3. Op-ed

For Planning Purposes Only
May XX, 2016
Contact: [Name], [Number/Email]

*MEDIA ADVISORY*
TOMORROW, [DATE] at [TIME] ET: Labor and Business Join Forces to Call for Increase in Infrastructure Investments

[CITY]- Our nation is in the midst of a worsening infrastructure crisis, but Republicans in Congress have refused to act to ensure safety on our roads and bridges. This week is National Infrastructure Week, which highlights the common interests of labor and business in calling for additional investments in infrastructure. Tomorrow, Democrats and leaders from the business and labor communities will call on GOP lawmakers to stop blocking bills that would fund much needed internal improvements for our country.

Join XXX, XXX, and XXX TOMORROW, [DATE] at [TIME] to call on [insert Republican Member of Congress] to fund maintenance on [INSERT STATE]’s public roads and bridges.

WHO: Labor and Business Leaders
WHAT: Press Conference on Infrastructure Funding
WHEN: TOMORROW,  [DATE], [TIME]
WHERE: [LOCATION]

For more information, please contact [state party comms director].
###

For Immediate Release
May XX, 2016
Contact: [Name], [Number/Email]

Labor and Business Leaders Call on Republican Lawmakers to Fund Much-Needed Infrastructure Improvements

[City]- Underfunding of public roads and bridges in the United States have put residents in danger of transit accidents on a daily basis. Yet Republican lawmakers like [INSERT GOP MEMBERS OF CONGRESS] repeatedly refuse to invest in our nation’s infrastructure. Labor and business leaders gathered today to call for funding to address this serious matter in honor of National Infrastructure Week.

“As a business owner, I find it unconscionable that our congressman has failed to make sure our roads and bridges are safe,” said XXXX. “It’s not a partisan issue to properly fund our transportation network, but he is making it one and putting his constituents in danger in the process.”

If Hitting House Member:
In 2012, XXXX supported a transportation bill that was strongly opposed by safety and environmental advocates. It would have covered only five percent of the funds needed to pay for the entirety of national mass transit repairs.

If Hitting Senator:
XXXX has repeated blocked bills to fund national infrastructure repairs. In 2011, XXXX blocked President Obama’s plan to allocate $60 billion in for much-needed highway, rail, transit and airport repairs and construction. And in 2015, XXXX helped defeat an amendment that would have allocated $478 billion in infrastructure investment while remaining deficit-neutral.

“If the roof of your house is leaking, you try to fix it immediately instead of waiting for the whole thing to cave in,” said XXXX. “[SENATOR or MEMBER]’s actions simply don’t make sense. He is putting our lives at risk for refusing to act.”

###

Letter 1

Editor

Under President Obama, we’ve seen 14 million new jobs created. But we can do even more if Republicans in Congress would agree to invest more in infrastructure projects – not only repairing our crumbling roads and bridges, but also wiring rural America and installing green energy infrastructure. These investments are what’s needed to create even more jobs while making our nation stronger.

Infrastructure shouldn’t fall victim to partisan political games. Investing in roads, bridges, railroads, and airports is fundamental to our economy. Expanding broadband internet access and installing wind and solar panels in communities across the country will build a stronger future and create millions of jobs. Investments in wiring rural America, in particular, would pay off in spades by allowing rural families to grow their businesses online, tapping into e-commerce in order to provide for their families.

Simply put, investing in infrastructure helps lift up hardworking families. When Republicans block infrastructure spending, they kill jobs, make our roads and bridges less safe, and block hardworking Americans from gaining internet access. We need to focus on efforts to grow America—not limit our progress because of political strife.

Sincerely,
XXX

Letter 2

Editor:

The backbone of our country is our infrastructure. As our transportation networks crumble, public life suffers. Looking towards the future, I am concerned that our country is falling behind.

All investments in our infrastructure double as an investment for our country’s residents. Transportation is a vital engine of our economy, ensuring people can get to their jobs and that goods can get from businesses to customers. While we allow our bridges and roads to fall into disrepair, we are failing to meet the needs of our growing population and economy.

Recent opportunities to improve our nation's infrastructure have been thwarted by the political games of the Republican Party in Washington. On the other side of the aisle, Democrats are invested in creating jobs at home by ensuring our transportation network is safe and efficient, and by going a step further. Democratic efforts to invest in projects such as high-speed rail, renewable energy, and broadband internet would create millions of jobs while ensuring that our nation stays on the cutting-edge.

Previous generations recognized the necessity of infrastructure innovations and now is our opportunity to pay the same progress forward. Let’s put our family members, friends and neighbors to work and build the transportation network of tomorrow.

Sincerely,
XXX

Editor:

As National Infrastructure Week kicks off, I am calling on Republican politicians including our representative, XXX, to stop blocking investments that would repair our crumbling infrastructure and create jobs. Our nations’ aging highways, bridges, and water systems are in urgent need of repair, but the Republicans continue to oppose the necessary investments which make our transportation system safer, create jobs, and alleviate congestion in and around our major cities.

The water crisis in Flint, Michigan is the most overt example of the GOP’s willingness to cut costs without any regard for the impact their ill-conceived decisions may have on a community. Michigan Governor Rick Snyder appointed the emergency mangers who decided to draw water from the polluted Flint River, and then Congressional Republicans doubled down on their failure by refusing to approve the funding needed to replace Flint’s corroded pipes.

Ignoring a problem won’t solve it. The AFL-CIO, the Chamber of Commerce and other groups recognize the need to repair, improve, and expand America’s crumbling infrastructure. It’s time for the GOP to do the same.

Sincerely,
XXX

Editor:

National Infrastructure Week isn’t the sexiest of causes to celebrate – that much I know. But what I also know is this: infrastructure is fundamental to our economy and our daily lives. Think about it: every day we use bridges, roads, and airports to get around; every day we use the internet to connect with the world; and every day we use products that were created in factories and arrived safely to the stores we bought them in.

However, our nation’s infrastructure is crumbling. We need to make investments quickly or risk paying the consequences. Both Democratic candidates for president have detailed plans for investing in infrastructure that would create millions of jobs and give Americans the 21st century transportation network they deserve.

Republicans have had their way obstructing new investments in infrastructure for years. We need to elect leaders up and down the ballot who understand our prosperity can only grow when we have the infrastructure to support it.

The presumptive GOP nominee, Donald Trump? He hasn’t a clue. In fact, as it relates to infrastructure, the only concrete thing<http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/17/us/politics/donald-trump-runs-for-president-this-time-for-real-he-says.html> we’ve heard he’ll do is build a “great wall” to keep out rapists and other criminals who are apparently making their way over in droves. Seriously. As Trump even declared at a campaign rally in Tampa, Florida, “You watch, and that wall will go up like magic.”

Our country doesn’t need a wall. What we need are bridges, and we need them now more than ever.  [We need to take out reference to the wall. Please tweak.]

Sincerely,
XXX

 Sample Op-Ed

 Investing in Our Future, Investing in Infrastructure

This week is National Infrastructure Week – an opportunity to pay a little more attention to how the infrastructure we often take for granted matters in our daily lives, and how much investing in infrastructure improvements can contribute to economic growth and our long-term prosperity.

Politically, there’s a clear divide on this issue. Nothing will ever force us to invest tax dollars in roads, airports, bridges, ports, our electric grid, internet, and drinking-water systems, and thanks to the Republican Party, we often don’t.

For years, the Republicans at every level of government have largely succeeded in obstructing legislation that would put tax dollars into infrastructure, usually justifying their obstruction by calling those projects wasteful government spending.

In 2011, Republicans blocked a plan to spend $60 billion on infrastructure as part of president Obama’s American Jobs Act. In 2012, House Republicans introduced a five-year transportation bill that was strongly opposed by safety and environment advocates. And in 2015, Senate Republicans blocked a $478 billion infrastructure bill.

Here in [STATE] (Include State-specific points about how State/Congressional Republicans obstruct/oppose infrastructure investments to reward wealthy with tax cuts)

What these Republicans will never admit, though, is that the short-term savings they like to brag about when they get their way are actually costing you, your family, and the economy in the long term.

Traffic jams, airport delays, repairs after catastrophic collapses, power failures, and the human and health care costs that come with infrastructure failures like what we’ve seen most recently in the Flint, Michigan water crisis, are all a tremendous drag on our economy.

The America Society of Civil Engineers has calculated that over the next decade, the deterioration of our infrastructure will cut payroll growth by 2.5 million jobs and $4 trillion of gross domestic product<http://www.cnbc.com/2016/05/12/bad-roads-bridges-could-pare-4t-from-gdp-in-a-decade.html> in lost sales and higher costs.

That’s why we need strong Democratic leadership at every level of government, especially here in [STATE]. (State-specifics of Democrats fighting for/advocating for infrastructure investments.

The issue of infrastructure spending is also a critical part of the current presidential election, with the same clear contrast between the two parties.

Although he pays the idea lip-service and says he’s in favor of infrastructure repair, Donald Trump’s hollow rhetoric doesn’t add up. His tax plan alone would cost the American economy $9.5 trillion dollars – leaving no room for any meaningful new investments in infrastructure repair without serious and devastating cuts to other vital government programs.

But Democrats are offering smart, substantive ideas that make good economic sense. Both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have plans to create jobs through repairing our bridges and roads, building high-speed rail, installing solar and wind energy equipment, and wiring rural America.

And what’s the GOP offering What’s Trump got? Tax cuts for the wealthy built on cuts to the services and infrastructure working families depend on to climb the economic ladder. a plan to build a wall on the US-Mexico border.

Labor and business agree that we need to repair, improve, and expand America’s crumbling infrastructure. Yet Republicans continue to block infrastructure spending that would create jobs, make roads and bridges safer, shorten commutes, and improve internet access for millions.

We need to put America to work building bridges, not walls. We must elect Democrats up and down the ballot in November.