Jeffries: No infrastructure plan without public housing

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and other mayors had planned to meet with President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday to discuss infrastructure funding, but Rep. Hakeem Jeffries has his own plan.

Jeffries said he’ll push Democrats to make funding for public housing repairs a prerequisite for supporting an infrastructure plan.

“For far too long, the federal government has gotten out of the business of protecting public housing residents and it’s time for that to change,” said Jeffries while delivering his State of the District speech to a crowded auditorium at Brooklyn Technical High School in Fort Greene on Tuesday night, with leaders like Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez and New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson in attendance. 

Trump will need Democratic support to pass his intended $1 trillion infrastructure plan, and Jeffries said he’s made it clear to leaders in the House and Senate that his party shouldn’t support any plan that doesn’t include the funds to repair and maintain public housing developments. A 2013 report from the New York City Housing Authority found that $17 billion would be needed to update the all the authority’s apartments to a state of good repair.