Updated January 6, 2024

How the NIB Compares to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL)

The need for congressional consideration of H.R.4052 could not be greater. Adoption of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) authorized $550 billion in new money for infrastructure programs. As you will read below, this is good, but woefully inadequate. Congress is currently in negotiations on further budget cutting for infrastructure. The time is ripe for Congress to adopt an “off-budget” solution and enact H.R.4052, the National Infrastructure Bank (NIB) Act 2023. The drumbeat is growing louder by the day, and at present, 23 members of Congress are sponsors of this bill. 

Summary

On November 15, 2021, President Biden signed into law the $1 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), now called, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). It provides $550 billion in new money over five years for transportation projects ($284 billion), water infrastructure, energy and power, broadband, and resiliency. While economists, historians, and legislators applaud the bill’s passage, most are stressing that it will not be nearly enough to overcome the failure for decades to maintain and upgrade America’s infrastructure. Some members of Congress telegraphed the benefits of the BIL in their home states but, in each case, those benefits are only about 1/10th of what states actually need to fully address infrastructure needs. 

Differences between the NIB and BIL include:

• The NIB is large enough at $5 trillion to cover ALL of the measured infrastructure financing gap, while the BIL covers only about 10% of what is measurably needed 
• The BIL is paid for through the budget, and during negotiations was reduced in size, from $3.3 trillion to $550 billion in new money, because Senators couldn't agree on how to pay for any larger amount. BIL funding extends only for 5 years and will need to be renegotiated 
• The NIB is a permanent, off-budget lending bank that needs no new Federal spending, taxes, or deficits for it to operate. Legislation requires the NIB to complement and top up spending under the BIL, not duplicate it 
• The BIL covers 14 infrastructure categories, with significant underfunding for: roads and bridges; transit; water infrastructure (including lead water service line replacements); and expansion of electricity transmission 
• The NIB fully covers all 16 infrastructure categories monitored by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). Plus, it adds significant new amounts for High-Speed Rail, affordable housing, broadband, and water management, especially in areas where we grow our Nation's food.

Vulnerabilities in our Nation’s Infrastructure are on full display:

A new report from the Council on Foreign Relations finds that: U.S. infrastructure is both dangerously overstretched and lagging behind our international competitors. China spends 5.1% of its GDP on infrastructure, compared to 1.5% here at home. Poor infrastructure can impose large costs on the U.S. economy: in addition to the threat to human safety of catastrophic failures such as bridge collapses or dam breaches, inadequately maintained roads, trains, and waterways cost billions of dollars in lost economic productivity. When our infrastructure was the best in the world, -- just after World War II -- it had been financed almost entirely by a national public bank, the Reconstruction Finance Corporation.

Lead-tainted water is America’s worst infrastructure failure: The BIL provides only $15 billion to replace all lead service lines. While that may cover one major city like Chicago’s not enough for the scores of other U.S. cities with severe lead problems. Michigan’s Governor Gretchen Whitmer was the latest to declare an “all hands on deck” emergency in Benton Harbor, MI, a predominantly Black, low-income community that has had a serious lead service line problem for years. The governor diverted $18 million in federal and state funds to overhaul the city’s water supply system, but much more supplemental funding will be needed from the Biden plan to finish the job.

Additional money needed for power grid enhancements: The BIL provides only a small portion of funds for the enhancement and upgrading of the national power grids. States and cities want to transition transit services and EV charging stations to meet projected climate control standards. The funds being allocated are woefully too low to meet these standards. NYC alone wants to transition 5,500 buses from diesel to electric at the same time four rail transit organizations want to increase operations.

Funding falls short for High-Speed Rail (HSR) and other rail transit systems: At the end of 2023, President Biden announced $8.2 billion in grants from the BIL, and various other Appropriations Bills, for 10 passenger rail projects across the Nation: $3.0 billion would go to the private company Brightline West for an electric High Speed Rail (HSR) line from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. The company has lined up private financing to complete the $12 billion project in 4 short years. Also $3.1 billion will go to the California HSR line between Los Angeles and San Francisco, now projected to cost $110 billion. Remaining Federal Funds will improve existing rail corridors including DC-VA, Raleigh-Richmond, Philly-Pittsburgh, and around the Chicago station hub. The Federal Railroad Administration is planning 69 corridor selections across 44 states through the Corridor Identification and Development (Corridor ID) Program, intended to steer future passenger rail expansion. However, no budgeted resources are set aside for these projects. Rail policy advocates point out that a lack of funding is the number 1 reason for delays in rail projects, and that such delays substantially raise the cost of such projects over time. Meanwhile, the National Infrastructure Bank will provide $1.1 trillion for a complete HSR network around the country, as well as $250 billion for mass transit, and $45 billion for passenger rail systems. The NIB will foster development that seamlessly connects rail systems and builds affordable housing, parks, and other community development next to rail stations.

Money lacking for-Climate Change, Drought, and Farming: The Winter 2021 outlook from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration now calls for drought to continue or accelerate in Central and Southwestern states where 50% of our nation’s food supply is grown. NOAA also estimates that damages from earlier droughts cost the U.S. $250 billion from 1980 to 2019. Water experts find we do not have a requisite federal response plan in place to address the severity of the drought problem --something akin to FDR’s blueprint for dealing with the 1930’s ”Dust Bowl.”

Support grows for H.R.4052

Recognizing that our infrastructure needs cannot be adequately financed through the Federal budget, 23 members of Congress have sponsored H.R.4052. In addition, 27 state legislatures, multiple county and city councils, and other elected bodies have introduced resolutions calling on Congress to create a $5 trillion National Infrastructure Bank. Recent ones passed in: Washington State, Maine, New Jersey, and Nevada in both Chambers, and California, Delaware, and Rhode Island in one Chamber; as well as City Councils in Albany, Anchorage, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Seattle, and Trenton. Many Op-Eds and Letters have been published in newspapers nationwide.