AASHTO: Trump administration to talk infrastructure with state DOTs

The White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs has scheduled a meeting on Wednesday with state departments of transportation officials and others to discuss the Trump administration's ideas for infrastructure investment.

The event's purpose "will be to underscore the need for a different approach, outline our draft guiding principles, and allow you all to brainstorm actions to help carry this conversation on the need for change and the opportunity to empower state and local leaders back to your states and communities," said the invitation as reported by the AASHTO Journal.

Participants will meet with Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, Budget Director Mick Mulvaney and members of the President's National Economic Council and Special Assistant to the President for Infrastructure D.J. Gribbin, reported the Journal, which is published by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO).

The event comes months after the administration has held meetings but has yet to unveil a detailed infrastructure plan. In his 2018 budget proposal, President Trump proposed $200 billion of direct federal infrastructure spending over 10 years, with the goal of using it to leverage an additional $800 billion in state, local and private investment.

The president also has called for eliminating certain popular U.S. Department of Transportation funding programs, including Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants.