Congress eyes fix for crumbling infrastructure
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Roads, bridges, mass transit and other aging U.S. infrastructure would get a face-lift under legislation introduced in Congress on Wednesday that would create a system to identify, evaluate and help finance projects.
Citing high-profile infrastructure meltdowns, such as last month's steam pipe explosion in Manhattan, bill sponsors U.S. Senators Chris Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, and Chuck Hagel, a Nebraska Republican, said it was time to upgrade for the 21st-century economy.
"The legislation we are introducing establishes a new system through which the federal government can finance infrastructure projects by leveraging private and public capital to fund large projects that are vital to our country," Hagel said in a statement.
The legislation would create a national infrastructure bank charged with evaluating and financing publicly owned mass transit, housing, roads, bridges, and water systems that would entail potential federal funding of at least $75 million per project.
Financing could include an initial $60 billion of tax-credit bonds, as well as direct subsidies and loan guarantees all backed by the government's full faith and credit pledge, according to the sponsors.
The senators pointed to federal agency data that showed billions of dollars in annual funding was needed over the next 20 years for infrastructure repairs, including nearly $132 billion a year for roads, $390 billion a year for wastewater systems and $21.8 billion a year for mass transit.
"This measure can help rebuild our roads, bridges, transit and water systems, improve our quality of life, and spur jobs and economic growth," Dodd said in a statement. "By investing today, we can minimize costs down the road ..."
