Everybody agrees we have to fix our crumbling infrastructure. The problem is nobody knows how to pay for it. As Congress takes up the issue of financing infrastructure through the budget, we urge them to also create a new National Infrastructure Bank (NIB). This Bank will cover projects that the federal budget, and state and local governments, are not able to cover. 

 

The need for such a bank was underscored yet again this month when the American Society of Civil Engineers issued their quadrennial Report Card for the United States and graded the nation C-. ASCE estimated that the gap between what is currently funded and what is needed over the next ten years has grown to $2.6 trillion. The country needs to spend nearly $6 trillion to bring our infrastructure to a state of good repair. Highlights of the Report Card include:

 

*There is a water main break every two minutes, and an estimated 6 billion gallons of treated water lost each day in the U.S., enough to fill over 9,000 swimming pools.

 

*Growing wear and tear on our nation's roads have left 43% of our public roadways in poor or mediocre condition, a number that has remained stagnant over the past several years.

 

*Currently, 42% of all bridges are at least 50 years old, and 46,154 are considered structurally deficient, meaning they are in “poor” condition, but still in use and waiting to collapse. 

 

Congress will fund a certain amount of this through the budget. We support that. A new National Infrastructure Bank will finance the rest, approximately $5 trillion. This will include all the new 21st century projects such as: universal broadband, $1 trillion into High Speed Rail, the Hudson River Tunnels, and replacing the Brent-Spence Bridge.  

 

As embodied in HR 6422, the National Infrastructure Bank will be capitalized with existing Treasury debt so it will require no new federal spending, and no new federal taxes. It will be capitalized at $500 billion and authorized to invest $5 trillion to fix all our infrastructure. 

 

This bank is modeled on four previous institutions which built much of the infrastructure of the nation. The last one helped end the Great Depression and win WWII. 

 

The National Infrastructure Bank will create 25 million new jobs, pay Davis-Bacon wages, and mandate Buy American provisions. 

 

It will ensure the robust hiring of minority populations and disadvantaged business enterprises. It will supercharge our industry and small business. 

 

It is appealing to both Republicans and Democrats because it requires no new Federal taxes or debt, creates millions of jobs and fixes what’s broken.

 

In summary, this legislation would address roads, bridges, and transit; electric grid, including cybersecurity; schools; dams, levees, waterways and ports; airports; rail; drinking water and wastewater systems; public parks and recreation facilities; and hazard and solid waste.

 

As stated in the legislation, “. . . expanded investment is needed in new manufacturing centers, affordable housing, broadband access, science and technology drivers, to accommodate population growth and migration, and for other improvements in rural, urban, and low-income areas that the private sector is not currently serving … “

 

The time to act is now. Delaying any longer will result in increased costs, as many projects will be beyond repair and require a full replacement. Please join our campaign. Ask your member of Congress to help create a $5 trillion National Infrastructure Bank.  

 

Signers: 

Sen. Louis DiPalma, Chairman, Senate Committee on Rules, Government Ethics and Oversight; Middletown, RI

Rep. Lisa Sobecki, Ranking Democrat House Ways and Means Committee, Toledo, OH

Rep. Amy Perruso, Vice-Chair House Agriculture Committee, Wahiawa, HI

Rep. Shelly Willingham, Vice-Chairman, House Insurance Committee, Rocky Mount, NC

Asm. Robert Karabinchak, Chair, Special Committee on Infrastructure and Natural Resources, Edison, NJ

Rep. Joe Ciresi, Commerce Committee, Limerick, PA

Rep. Tavia Galonski, Ranking Democrat, Civil Justice Committee, Akron, OH

Asm. Felix Ortiz, former Assistant Speaker of the House (retired), Albany, NY

Mary Jane Shimsky, Majority Leader, Westchester Co. NY Board of Legislators

Patricia Riley, Peekskill City Councilwoman, Peekskill, NY

Catherine Borgia, District 9 Westchester Co. NY Board of Legislators

Anita Prizio, Allegheny County Councilwoman, O’Hara Township, PA

Rudy Arredondo, President, National Latino Farmers and Ranchers Trade Association, Washington, DC

Thomas Carey, President Westchester-Putnam Counties Central Labor Body, AFL-CIO, White Plains, NY

Mark Strand, President, Central New Mexico Central Labor Council, Albuquerque, NM

Steven Fenberg, Award-winning author, “Unprecedented Power: Jesse Jones: Capitalism, and the Common Good,” Houston, TX

Leonidas Murembya, PhD., Assistant Professor of Economics, Michigan State University, Lansing, MI

Ellen Brown, Founder, and Chair, Public Banking Institute, Los Angeles, CA

Jack Hanna, former Treasurer and Interim Chairman Pennsylvania Democratic Party, Portland OR

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

Stanley Forczek, Infrastructure consultant, former executive Amtrak, Williamstown, NJ

Julie Olsen, Executive Committee, Alaska Democratic Party, Anchorage AK

Sandra J. Klassen, Virginia Democratic Party State Central Committee, Fairfax, VA

Robert Lynn, Organizer, and Political Director, United Association of Plumbers and Steamfitters (ret.), Toledo, OH

For more information please contact, info@nibcoalition.com