States are and will play a critical role in crafting a solution to America’s infrastructure crisis, noted Maryland Governor Larry Hogan (R) during the February 27 keynote address during the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials annual Washington Briefing in Washington, D.C.

“Infrastructure is fundamental to our economy, environment, and way of life,” said Gov. Hogan, who is also the current chairman of the National Governors Association. “The time to fix America’s infrastructure is now. We cannot wait anymore.”

He said the “collective influence of the states” will help drive action by federal leadership in Washington on infrastructure.

“This is about helping people in their everyday lives because our economy is not productive when people are sitting around stuck in traffic,” the governor explained. “Common sense pragmatism is driving our efforts on transportation and other issues to find solutions to the serious problems facing us.”

Gov. Hogan most recently highlighted his year-long national infrastructure renewal initiative – dubbed “Infrastructure: Foundation for Success” – at the NGA’s Winter Meeting on February 8 in Washington D.C.

“In states all across the country, governors are working together in a bipartisan way, showing real leadership, making progress, and finding solutions to the serious problems facing us,” he said in a statement.

“Our nation’s governors, on both sides of the aisle, are finding new ways to innovate, to reform, and to drive the debate,” Gov. Hogan emphasized. “My goal with our infrastructure initiative is to harness that strength and come up with all the best ideas and solutions in order to tackle an issue that is so fundamental to our economy, to our environment, and to our way of life.”