The
Brookings Institution held a forum in Washington D.C. last month titled ‘Can-Do States: A New Era for Infrastructure
Investment.’ Public and private sector
representatives from Colorado, New York, Virginia and British Columbia
discussed their various approaches to public private partnerships.
New
York is the latest state to take a can-do approach to P3s. In June, the state unveiled a $174 billion plan to coordinate the
budgets of almost fifty state agencies and authorities to better leverage
resources across eight areas of infrastructure. A key component of the plan is finding ways to attract
private investment by cutting red tape and speeding the delivery of projects.
That’s
an attitude we could use here in California, but we first need the public and
our politicians to truly understand what P3s are and what they can and can’t
accomplish.
As
Tony Kinn, Director of Virginia’s Office for Transportation PPPs told the
Brookings audience: “The most
difficult part of successful P3s is the outreach with the public and the legislature. I would contend that in your
state, most of the legislators do not have a full understanding of P3s. And if they don’t, what percentage of
the public do you think has an understanding?
Click below for more information on The Bookings Institution forum:
http://www.brookings.edu/events/2013/07/12-infrastructure-investment
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