White House Tells Senate: Grants No Substitute For Infrastructure Bank

The White House has reiterated its commitment to a national infrastructure bank (NIB), urging the Senate to reconsider a 2010 transportation spending bill that would "substitute in its place" $1.1 billion in grants.

2003992830.jpgPatty Murray (D-WA) heads the Senate panel in charge of U.S. DOT spending. (Photo: Seattle Times)

In a statement of policy on the Senate’s transport spending bill, which is slated for floor debate starting Monday, the Obama administration noted that an NIB could provide not only grants but also credit-based financing such as loans and bonds:

The Administration encourages the Congress to support the creation of a National Infrastructure Bank and not substitute in its place a national infrastructure grant program … Once established, a Bank will help forge a new path forward in infrastructure sponsorship and cross-jurisdictional partnership.

The House’s 2010 transport spending bill allows half of its $4 billion in high-speed rail money to be transferred to an NIB, provided that such an entity is authorized by Congress next year. That remains an open question, given the strong likelihood of a delay in the next long-term transportation bill.

The $1.1 billion grant program included in the Senate’s spending bill follows a model similar to the $1.5 billion "TIGER" grants authorized by this year’s economic stimulus law. The TIGER funding is open to proposals in any transport mode — from rail to ports to cycling — and will be distributed early next year by the U.S. DOT based on economic and environmental merit, as well as other factors.

While Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has spoken often of the flood of interest generated by the TIGER money, the White House’s statement makes clear that it has not abandoned the push for an NIB.

One crucial decision on the NIB, meanwhile, has yet to be made: whether it will be housed within the U.S. DOT, as House transport committee chairman Jim Oberstar (D-MN) has suggested, or set up as an independent entity, as Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) proposed in her NIB legislation.

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

DeLauro Questions Obama Budget’s Infrastructure Fund Proposal

|
Despite brought support for the concept of a National Infrastructure Bank (NIB) to help pay for major improvements to America’s built environment, including transportation, significant uncertainty still surrounds the questions of how the bank would work as well as what it would fund.  Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) (Photo: America2050 via Flickr) As Streetsblog Capitol Hill […]

Why Reformers Should Care How We Pay for Transportation

|
TIFIAs and TIGERs and NIBs — oh my! The alphabet soup of infrastructure funding mechanisms can be alienating even to committed transportation advocates. But with the power of the gas tax diminishing and elected officials refusing to raise it, other financing options are taking on increasing importance. If you’re interested in reforming our transportation system […]

Dodd and DeLauro Vow to Get Infrastructure Bank Done This Year

|
Supporters from every corner of the transportation universe joined Gov. Ed Rendell (D-PA), Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), and Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) today at a press event aimed at jumpstarting a National Infrastructure Bank (NIB), which the two Connecticut lawmakers vowed to steer to passage this year. Gov. Ed Rendell (D-PA), above, founded BAF with […]

As Geithner Touts Infrastructure, Skepticism Persists on $4B ‘I-Fund’ Plan

|
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, considered a skeptic of transportation stimulus spending by some lawmakers, yesterday joined two other White House economic advisers in endorsing new infrastructure investment as a means to jump-start the economy. Geithner (l.) said that there is "a very good economic case" for infrastructure spending. (Photo: WaPo) But the president’s proposed $4 […]

Kerry, Hutchison, and Warner Introduce New Infrastructure Bank Bill

|
Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), along with Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) and Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) just announced that they’re introducing the BUILD Act today, which would create a national infrastructure bank. They’re proposing to start the bank with $10 billion of seed money that would leverage hundreds of billions of dollars, according to their […]

Could a Green Bank Hitch a Ride on the Jobs Bill?

|
Fans of a National Infrastructure Bank (NIB) that would help leverage private-sector funding for transportation projects are still hoping for Hill action after the House declined to add the idea to its $154 billion jobs bill. But the NIB isn’t the only new financing strategy on the table, as Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) reminded […]