Lawmakers seeking private funds for major infrastructure

[The Straight Story]

Lawmakers seeking private funds for major infrastructure

As Washington struggles to balance economic development with budgetary austerity, some lawmakers are coalescing behind plans to attract private funds for investment in major infrastructure projects with a minimum of public money involved.

Two bills focus on infrastructure - a priority of the president and, in rare concert, the business and labor communities as well. The proposals approach public project financing from different directions: investments and bond underwriting. But both rely on investors to fill the gap government can't, a big shift from the situation in 2009, when government funding was used to stimulate the economy as the private sector faltered.

Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., Mark Warner, D-Va., and Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, announced legislation called the BUILD Act on Tuesday. Flanked by U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue and AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, the lawmakers proposed creating a national infrastructure bank, the American Infrastructure Financing Authority, to provide loans and guarantees for major construction projects.

Meanwhile, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., hopes to introduce a bill within the next few weeks that would modify the expired Build America Bonds program, which created a class of subsidized municipal bonds. Wyden's plan to authorize Transportation and Regional Infrastructure Project (TRIP) bonds is being scored on its cost by the Joint Tax Committee as he seeks out allies on both sides of the aisle.

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