The United States is estimated to have accumulated at least $1 trillion in deferred infrastructure maintenance—scheduled repairs that should have been carried out but were postponed in favor of more pressing current spending needs. Deferred maintenance is rarely incorporated into state or local capital budgets, annual comprehensive financial reports, or infrastructure needs assessments. This omission obscures the full scale of fiscal risk and hinders informed decision-making about infrastructure investment and public asset management. Costs are dramatically rising as governments cope with accelerating needs brought on by increasingly severe weather events. As federal aid to states and municipalities shrinks, it is more urgent than ever that states prepare to stand on their own and face the trillion-dollar challenge.

The Volcker Alliance and the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota (UMN), with support from the Pew Charitable Trusts, have partnered to help states quantify infrastructure maintenance gaps and improve practices to close these funding gaps. The resulting report series is designed to shine a light on the critical issue of deferred infrastructure maintenance and help states address this looming threat before it becomes a crisis.