New York state has been a leader in the United States in innovative infrastructure investment, such as P3 and design-build — what is the approach, and what are some of the highlights and impacts of these efforts?

When Governor Cuomo came to office in 2011, New York state’s infrastructure was degraded. We saw the impact of chronic underinvestment on not only the broader economy, but also on much of its citizenry. For decades, New York state had been razor focused on wealth maintenance, as had much of the country, rather than on broadening opportunity. Cuomo went at this underlying illness through a vision-driven massive investment in infrastructure throughout the state, which has sustained to this day. Our vast country is made up of laboratories of innovation. New York state is the sole laboratory focused on infrastructure-driven economic growth.

What was the strategy?

The first step was to abolish earmarks, which had simply