Bruce Blanningis executive director of Professional Engineers in California Government (PECG), which represents 13,000 engineers and related professionals employed by the state of California. About 70 percent of these employees work for Caltrans, planning, designing, inspecting and operating the state highways and some transit operations in California. Others work on the State Water Project, dams, hospitals, schools and other infrastructure, as well as the Air Resources Board, Energy Commission, Public Utilities Commission and other agencies serving Californians. Institutional Investing in Infrastructure editor Drew Campbell recently spoke with Blanning about public-private partnerships (P3).

What is your opinion of public-private partnerships?

Public-private partnerships have been defined as a way to use private funding to perform a public function, which needs public authorization. Transportation and other infrastructure projects have lagged behind