When President Obama proposed a national infrastructure bank on Labor Day, he was short on details. How would such a bank work to give coherence to meeting our infrastructure building needs?
Today, in conjunction with our national conference on infrastructure, PPI is proud to release a new Policy Memo from infrastructure expert Everett Ehlrich about how a national infrastructure bank would work.
In his memo, entitled “A National Infrastructure Bank: A Road Guide to the Destination,” Ehrlich sees five key aspects of a Bank:
Here’s Ehrlich’s overview for how the bank would work:
Any entity – whether state, local, or federal – would have standing to come to the Bank with a proposal requiring federal assistance. The Bank would be able to negotiate the level and form of such assistance based on the particulars of each project proposal. It could offer cash participation or loan guarantees, underwriting or credit subsidies, or financing for a subordinated fund to assure creditors. Any project requiring federal resources above some dollar threshold (on a credit scoring basis) would have to be approved by the Bank.
Ehrlich will be discussing his memo on Friday at a panel on “Panel: Financing Future Growth: How Do We Pay For New Projects?,” as part of the 2nd Annual North America Strategic Infrastructure Leadership Forum, co-sponsored by the Progressive Policy Institute.