From left, Purdue University President Mitch Daniels and Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb talk infrastructure during the Road School Transportation Conference and Expo on March 8, 2017, in West Lafayette. Staff photo by Jeremy Ervin
WEST LAFAYETTE — Repairing and expanding roads, bridges and rail lines is the "job that literally can never end," said Purdue President and former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels.
Above the soft clinking of silverware, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb met with Daniels on Wednesday to discuss long-term infrastructure funding in Indiana. The talk served as the keynote event for the Purdue University Road School Transportation Conference and Expo, which began on Monday.
Failing to create a sustainable long-term infrastructure plan, Holcomb said, is not an option.
"I view (funding) as a menu and a series of dials, if you dial one up, you can dial one down — or completely off," Holcomb said. "I am not one who wants to raid our rainy day fund for a one-time high and jeopardize our AAA credit rating. I'm not one who just wants to borrow and bond and simply tax someone else in the future."
Lafayette Mayor Tony Roswarski was in the crowd alongside other local government officials. He said he was glad to see the state's governor determined to figure out infrastructure funding.
“That everything is on the table, the only thing that is not on the table is doing nothing – that was great to hear." Roswarski said. “We know that to be competitive, as he said, into the future, we’ve got to do that.”
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