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Policy: To establish an agency working outside of or with the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) that is specifically dedicated to working with State and Local governmental agencies to provide pathways to funding for Critical Infrastructure. Make Infrastructure Great Again. (MIGA Agency)
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Introduction: Having worked over 20 years (In multiple ESCO Companies) across the central and western USA with cities, counties, state and federal governmental agencies, I have encountered the same problem over and over again. The folks in charge of creating annual budgets and long-range budgetary needs (Capital Improvement Plans, etc…) for governmental agencies have a disconnect between their budgetary needs and actual Infrastructure needs.
a. The result is budget that is comprised of guess work and emergency needs when equipment fails. The root cause is “reactionary emergency spending” and not a preventative, predictive mindset to plan years ahead for the infrastructure’s
maintenance and replacement at designed “life expectancies”.
b. Almost every organization that I have worked with has no clue what “unfunded liabilities” they have within their facilities and infrastructure. As a result, agencies run equipment way past their useful lifespan or don’t properly maintain the equipment, greatly reducing the life expectancy and energy efficiency.
c. By working with the newly created MIGA Agency’s tools and team, the collaborating governmental agencies will have help to realize their “Unfunded Liability” needs and plan accordingly with consensus from all internal agency stakeholders, (Budgeting, Planning, leadership as well as facilities operations and maintenance teams) the organization as a whole can work as a smooth cohesive team with less emergency funding required.
d. This need is much greater with smaller local government agencies where the skill sets are not readily available and spread very thin. These smaller communities and counties would see the biggest impact and need for their infrastructures from help provided by the MIGA Agency. -
Definitions:
a. MIGA Agency- Hypothetical name for the newly created agency
b. ESCO- Energy Service Company. These are private companies that employ Energy Service Performance Contracting (ESPC) deals for governmental agencies. These provide contracts where the facilities get funds (Loans) to pay for their infrastructure needs with no “up-front capital”. The ESP is an expensive route and only provides funds for projects that have energy savings, so it is not a complete solution and is expensive. ESCO rules are governed by each state’s laws and governance.
c. PM- Preventive Maintenance
d. Critical Infrastructure- This is any infrastructure that directly affects the safety and well-being of citizens and constituents in any state, local government, tribal as well as federal government facilities and boundaries. (Examples of Critical infrastructure are Water, Wastewater, Utilities, Healthcare as well as facilities where governmental activities are conducted for leadership and governance of a city, county, state or federal objective to name a few.)
e. Unfunded Liability- Any cost liability that may exist that is unrealized or unseen. For example if you do not replace old air conditioning equipment that is past its useful life or defer the preventive maintenance, the repair costs will be much higher over the long run. These unknown costs are referred to as Unfunded Liabilities.(Rule of thumb is that for every $1 of deferred maintenance you don’t do, you will incur $4 in repair costs.) -
Policy Statement:
a. To establish Federal or State groups working outside of or with the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) that is specifically dedicated to working with State and Local governmental agencies to first understand their “critical infrastructure” so they can better understand their “Unfunded Liabilities” and assist in streamlining funding needs and paths to each of theses governmental agencies.
b. To establish a set of free easy-to-use planning tools and training for governmental agencies that will aid in present and future planning to provide the public the greatest return for their tax dollar spends with a reduction of waste from poor planning and budgeting of their critical infrastructure needs. -
Policy Details:
a. Procedures
i. Create a central governing body to establish state liaisons to organize teams in each state and to evaluate and rate agency needs and fund requirements known. (What funds are they presently requesting for what projects?) Rank the projects to critical infrastructure vs wants for non-critical infrastructure.
ii. Develop a software team to create a tool that can be sent out to agencies for deployment to aid in understanding needs.
iii. Provide training to agencies on the newly implemented software.
iv. Provide a feedback network for the software development team with respect to the software users.
v. With data coming in from the new software, compile a database with needs married to the related Critical Infrastructure.
vi. Once data is received with detailed needs and funding requirements for critical infrastructure the central governing body will coordinate funds and sources that are available with the local agencies so a budget and plan can be put into place to fund the needed upgrades or new infrastructure requirements.
vii. The new software will also have a Preventive Maintenance (PM) component that provides work order, cost and tracking for the local agency will make sure that the proper maintenance is being done and funds are allocated and tracked to ensure proper life expectancy for equipment. (If the agency prefers to subcontract the work to an outside company, then it will be the responsibility of the contractor to provide the information into the software system.) -
Responsibilities
i. The chain of command will start with the central governing body of the newly created agency. (MIGA Agency for example)
ii. This new central governing body agency will potentially report to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and provide metrics which will be of public record that show critical infrastructure conditions across the entire USA and protectorates.
iii. The new central governing body will work with each state as well as states’ congressional offices to help better inform congress and state agencies on critical infrastructure conditions and needs so fund appropriations can be informed and allocated with as much red tape as possible to correct the issues. -
Compliance:
a. Oversite
i. The lines of communication should be simple, transparent and open to public hearings, so all are informed and to ensure there are no” back room deals” on infrastructure projects that result in fraud and under the table funds being shifted away from the intended project through internal corruption of governmental individuals and agencies.
ii. DOGE or an appointee agency will have oversight in ensuring all dealings with public or state funds are transparent as well as providing forensic auditing of projects to ensure public trust on funds spent. -
Additional considerations:
a. Public Input
i. For the success of a program like this, it is crucial to have public input from all stakeholders that are on the receiving end of funds for critical Infrastructure.