Opinion

Posted July 14, 2020

   

Currently under consideration in Congress is a bill (H.R. 6422) that would do much to help restart the economy. This legislation would provide much needed jobs and build critically needed infrastructure.

This would be enabled, not by tax funds, as a recent bill did, but primarily from existing, privately owned treasuries which would be exchanged for preferred stock, paying an extra 2% above the current rate.

This infrastructure bank would stimulate the economy, not only by providing much-needed well-paying jobs, but support the business economy by the purchase of the resources needed for construction and indirectly through the increased purchasing power of those employed during the construction of the infrastructure.

Four times in our history, an infrastructure bank was used successfully: First by Alexander Hamilton to fund the infrastructure necessary for our young country to grow and lastly by Franklin Roosevelt during the Great Depression, putting people to work building and repairing critical infrastructure thereby helping to restore the economy.

By providing a tax-free way to fund much-needed projects, we can, as the old saying goes, kill several birds with one stone:

1.) Fix our decaying infrastructure

2.) Build new, needed modern infrastructure

3.) Put people back to work

4.) Support local businesses

5.) indirectly restore tax revenue to local, state and federal government.

One can only hope that our legislators will agree and pass this critical legislation.

Peg Dissinger

Newtown

(The posted version can be found here.)