Yesterday, the Senate Finance Committee hosted a hearing titled, Funding and Financing Options to Bolster American Infrastructure. While the hearing covered a wide variety of funding and financing measures, bonds were at the center of many bipartisan agreements. The House Committee on Ways and Means will host a similar hearing later this morning. The MBFA is drafting testimony to submit in response to both hearings.
The LOCAL Infrastructure Act, which would fully reinstate tax-exempt advance refundings received ample support throughout, as did the expansion of PABs under the context of Public-Private Partnerships. Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-ID) pressed the Committee to take actions to expand the use of PABs to encourage this type of arrangement, specifically for transportation and water projects citing the need for raising the $15 billion dollar cap for transportation projects.
However, much of the discussion was focused on the new BAB-like product, the American Infrastructure Bond (AIB). A bipartisan piece of legislation, the AIB would have a revenue nurtural reimbursement rate of 28% and be exempt from sequestration. Chairman Wyden (D-OR) promoted the legislation by stating,
“We made it clear we want to involve the private sector more extensively in terms of infrastructure funding — that’s what Build America Bonds are all about. This is an approach that Congress has to return to because it works.”
If you would like to get more involved with the MBFA, please contact Brett Bolton at brettbolton@munibondsforamerica.org
