The May 21 NIB Zoom Town Hall, “National Infrastructure Bank: An Idea Whose Time Has Come,” featured author and former Managing Director of Goldman Sachs, Dr. Nomi Prins, Economist Alphecca Muttardy, and a wide variety of elected officials.

The webinar focused on moving the United States boldly into the 21^st Century, and that a dramatic transformation of our infrastructure can no longer be delayed. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) which passed in 2021, is good, but at $550 billion, too small. It will expire in two and a half years, and there is no Plan B. Congress is running annual deficits of $1-2 trillion, so there is no source of money in the budget. The private capital markets will not, and cannot, finance the need. The requirements dwarf conventional funding sources: 

·           $100 billion to replace all lead water service lines immediately

·           $900 billion to upgrade and modernize all drinking water, wastewater,

·           stormwater, and other systems. 

·           $20 trillion to upgrade the power grid

·           $1 trillion for a phase one High-Speed Rail system

·           $319 billion to bring US bridges to a state of good repair

As this discrepancy between needed and available money has grown, support for the National Infrastructure Bank policy has also mushroomed. H.R.4052, the National Infrastructure Bank Act (NIB), would create a permanent $5 trillion bank to lend for infrastructure only. Like others before, it would be “off-budget!” It has been done successfully in US history. There are now 35 sponsors on the bill.

On April 30, the Coalition for a National Infrastructure Bank, in conjunction with the lead sponsor on H.R.4052, Congressman Danny Davis (Ill.-7^th CD), hosted a very successful official briefing on Capitol Hill. Attendance was bipartisan, and the event featured four excellent proponents of the NIB. In addition, resolutions of support continue to be introduced into state legislatures, most recently in the Ohio State Senate. 

There is no more time to waste. Either we move “heaven and earth” to create the NIB, or watch more Baltimore bridge collapses and lead water poisoning of millions of our children. 

Watch this lively exchange of ideas and spread the word.  (Video here.)

Speakers:

Alphecca Muttardy, former Senior Economist, International Monetary Fund, Fairfax, VA

Dr. Nomi Prins, PhD., author and former Managing Director Goldman Sachs, Bear Stearns, Los Angeles, CA

Sen. Johnny Ray Salling, Maryland Senate, Dundalk, MD

Del. Lily Qi, Maryland House of Delegates, Rockville, MD

Rep. Steven Owens, Massachusetts House of Representatives, Watertown, MA

Marc Ayers, Sangamon County Board, Springfield, IL

John Heroff, Director of Legislative Affairs, Committee on Workforce Development, Chicago Board of Aldermen, Chicago, IL 

Julie Olsen, Small Business Owner; Political activist, Anchorage, AK

Moderator: Robert Lynn Jr., Secretary, Jobs with Justice, Toledo, OH