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 Clinton's plan to increase the federal government's spending on
infrastructure by $275 billion over the next five years will be
fully paid for by changing how businesses are taxed, a campaign aide
said, without providing any details.
Of the total amount, $25 billion will be earmarked for an
infrastructure bank. Clinton's campaign estimates her proposals
could also encourage private investment that, along with government
spending, would inject a total of $500 billion into rebuilding
crumbling roads, bridges, buildings and other structures.
"My jobs plan starts with investing in infrastructure," Clinton said
on Sunday at the launch of "Hard Hats for Hillary" in Boston, "not
just because infrastructure jobs are good-paying jobs, though they
are, and not just because we desperately need to invest in building
our future again, which we do, but because investing in
infrastructure makes our economy more productive and competitive
across the board."
 The hard hats group is made up of union workers in skilled trades
such as carpentry who support Clinton's campaign.
Clinton's campaign cited a recent study that showed the median wages
for infrastructure workers, at $38,810 per year, were several
thousand dollars higher than the national median for all workers.
Clinton's emphasis on jobs, and infrastructure in particular, is a
move to woo working-class voters, who will be critical in the
general election in November 2016.
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Infrastructure spending is favored by Democrats to spur job growth.
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who is Clinton's chief rival
for their party's nomination, has suggested a $1 trillion
infrastructure plan. In President Barack Obama's 2016 budget, he
proposed $478 billion for a six-year surface transportation
proposal.
In Boston, Clinton noted the construction industry was hit hard
during the financial recession and promised to rebuild "ladders of
opportunity available to anybody who is willing to work hard" so
workers can enter the middle class.
For more on the 2016 U.S. presidential race and to learn about the
undecided voters who determine elections, visit the Reuters website.
(here: http://www.reuters.com/election2016/the-undecided/)
(Reporting by Amanda Becker; Editing by Leslie Adler)
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reserved.]
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