Label
Council Members Delaney and Moline
Title
Endorsing United States House of Representatives (HR) Bill 6422 entitled National Infrastructure Bank Act of 2020 and urging the United States Senate and House of Representatives to enact the same.
Summary
WHEREAS, there is a widely acknowledged shortfall in infrastructure spending in the nation: the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gave the country a D+ in its 2017 Report Card and estimates the nation must spend at least $4.6 trillion to bring current infrastructure to a state of good repair. At least $2.1 trillion is unfunded, and the remainder is inadequately funded. Funding for new projects, including broadband, water projects, rail and High Speed rail are unfunded; and
WHEREAS, the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on peoples' lives and the economy has been devastating. At least 26 million people are unemployed and large numbers of businesses face bankruptcy or closing. This ongoing catastrophe has thrown the economy into recession or worse; and
WHEREAS, a new National Infrastructure Bank (NIB) could directly aid in fostering an economic recovery and build the infrastructure projects we have neglected. Legislation to create such a bank has been introduced into Congress this spring, HR 6422. The new NIB is modeled on four previous institutions created by Presidents George Washington, John Quincy Adams, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin D. Roosevelt, which helped spur massive economic growth; and
WHEREAS, the new National Infrastructure Bank would be able to lend $4 trillion for urgently needed projects. The NIB would be capitalized by repurposing existing Treasury debt and create no new federal debt. It would create 25 million new jobs, pay Davis-Bacon wages, and help hire those made jobless by the coronavirus pandemic. It would also require Project Labor Agreements and Buy American provisions for all projects; and
WHEREAS, the National Infrastructure Bank would incre...
Click here for full text