DeLauro Reintroduces National Infrastructure Development Bank Act
WASHINGTON, DC — Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) today reintroduced the National Infrastructure Development Bank Act, a bill to create and fund a public bank that leverages public and private dollars to help rebuild our nation's roads, highways, bridges, and environmental and energy projects of national or regional significance.
"It is no secret that our nation's infrastructure in dire need of repair. In addition to transportation projects such as highways, bridges, transit, airports high speed rail, waterways, ports, public schools and harbors, we need a serious public investment in drinking water and wastewater systems, energy and telecommunication projects to address every facet of Americans lives. Yet, every year we fail to make the necessary public investments to rebuild the infrastructure we use every day. That needs to change," said Congresswoman DeLauro. "My bill creating a National Infrastructure Bank would help supplement other federal programs to allow Congress to pursue a clear, comprehensive infrastructure policy that addresses the broad scope of this issue. Through this bill, we can take a step forward to address the tremendous shortfall in infrastructure investment, create American jobs, spur long-term economic growth, and improve our competitiveness across the globe. The time to act is now."
"We applaud Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro for the introduction of the National Infrastructure Development Bank Act today. We are particularly pleased by the inclusion of key provisions—like Buy America and Davis-Bacon—to ensure that the jobs created by the investment are good-paying jobs here in America," said Kim Glas, Executive Director of the BlueGreen Alliance. "America's infrastructure is in a shameful state of disrepair and a national infrastructure bank will help to address this growing problem by helping to build a safe, efficient, and globally competitive infrastructure system and prepare our communities for the impacts of climate change."
"The National Infrastructure Development Banks Act will increase safety and economic competitiveness, while creating thousands of new jobs with good wages and benefits across all facets of the construction industry in rural and urban communities and NABTU hopes this legislation leads to more consideration and robust action to address our most pressing infrastructure challenges," said Sean McGarvey President of North America's Building Trades Unions (NABTU).
"At a time when many in Washington are talking about how to tackle building tomorrow's infrastructure, Representative DeLauro is taking action," said Collin O'Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation. "A National Infrastructure Development Bank will provide innovative ways to finance climate-smart infrastructure, including restoring natural defenses, that we need to strengthen local economies and make communities more resilient to extreme weather."
"Our nation's infrastructure needs are extreme and they are in every state, and I applaud Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro's extraordinary leadership in establishing a national infrastructure bank in response," said Leo Hindery, Jr., Co-Chair of the Task Force on Jobs Creation. "Our cities and states need long-term, low-cost funding—they've been telling us so for decades—and the DeLauro bill is an elegant and responsible way to meaningfully provide it."
The legislation, modeled after the European Investment Bank, would leverage private sector dollars from institutional investors, such as pension funds, to supplement current funding in our nation's infrastructure. It would provide loans and loan guarantees to projects, and issue Public Benefit Bonds with proceeds to fund projects, and make payments to help states and localities cover their bond interest payments.
The National Infrastructure Bank would finance surface transportation projects, as well as energy, environmental, and telecommunications projects. The bank would consider each project's economic and environmental impacts, social benefits, and costs objectively before selecting projects to finance.