House Ways & Means Subcommittee Examines Infrastructure Banks
On Thursday, May 13, 2010, the House Ways & Means Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures examined proposals to create infrastructure banks.
Chairman Neal (D-Mass.) welcomed the opportunity to explore infrastructure bank proposals and said, “A Chinese proverb teaches us that, ‘One generation plants the trees; another gets the shade.’ Now would be a good time to lay the groundwork for significant infrastructure improvements. With bridges crumbling and cities boiling water, we have received the message that America’s infrastructure is desperately in need of support.”
Ranking Member Pat Tiberi (R-Ohio), while supportive of the infrastructure bank concept, reminded the subcommittee that “any measure we look at is not free.”
Bipartisan support for the concept of a national infrastructure bank (NIB) was voiced and all of the witnesses agreed that a NIB could be part of the solution to the nation’s infrastructure problems.
Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) testified on behalf of infrastructure investment and her infrastructure bank legislation, H.R. 2521. “Along with the human cost of failing to invest in our infrastructure, there is also an economic cost in terms of lost opportunities for the type of job creation and economic growth we need to remain competitive in the 21st century. China puts 9% of its GDP into infrastructure, India 5% and rising. Here, we spend less than 2% of GDP.” Her legislation, she said, would create a bank to “leverage private dollars to invest in merit-based projects across the country.”
Testifying before the subcommittee, Governor of Pennsylvania Edward Rendell and Los Angeles City Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, both highlighted their efforts to create local, sustainable infrastructure solutions and supported a NIB because it could help to stretch local dollars.
Gov.Rendell, also a co-chair of Building America’s Future, emphasized to the subcommittee that “even in financially difficult times – fully 81% of those people were willing to pay 1% more in income taxes to rebuild America’s infrastructure but only if we make important changes.”
President Obama has also signaled his support with $4 billion request for fiscal year 2011, with the intention of spending a total of $25 billion over the next five years.
Other witnesses included:
The Honorable Peter A. DeFazio (D-Ore.); the Honorable Daniel Lipinski (D-Ill), Stanton C. Hazelroth, Executive Director, California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank, Sacramento, California; the Honorable Jonathan Miller, Secretary of the Finance and Administration Cabinet, Frankfort, Kentucky; Robert Puentes, Senior Fellow, Metropolitan Policy Program, the Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C.; Michael A. Replogle, Global Policy Director and Founder, Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, Washington, D.C.; and Samuel Staley, Director of Urban Growth and Land Use Policy, Reason Foundation,Washington, D.C.
To read full witness testimony or view the live webcast, please click here.
