Too bad we spent all that money on the Iraq invasion :(
From your article...
"To answer such demands, Sens. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., are pushing a bill to create a National Infrastructure Bank that would raise money for major national projects by issuing up to $60 billion in tax credit bonds, which could then be leveraged into greater funding."
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?tab=main&bill=h106-2777H.R. 2777 <106th>: Transportation Infrastructure and Local Government Capital Enhancement Act
Sponsor: Rep. Jack Metcalf
"The following summary is provided by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan government entity that serves Congress and is run by the Library of Congress. The summary is taken from the official website THOMAS.
8/5/1999--Introduced.
Transportation Infrastructure and Local Government Capital Enhancement Act - Establishes the Federal Bank for Infrastructure Modernization. Authorizes the Bank to make loans to any State, local government, Indian tribe, and regional or multistate organization for the development of certain transportation- and water and hazardous treatment-related capital infrastructure facility projects. Sets forth specified loan and borrower eligibility requirements."
Then introduced each successive year.
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-3400
106th Congress: H.R. 2777: Transportation Infrastructure and Local Government Capital Enhancement ActDead
107th Congress: H.R. 1564 Dead
108th Congress: H.R. 4631 Dead
109th Congress: H.R. 5054 Dead
Testimony of Rep. Dennis Kucinich on Rebuilding America’s Infrastructure before the Budget Committee
http://kucinich.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=26010
"Washington, Mar 8, 2001 - Our country is facing a crisis in our infrastructure. It is something we see every day when we sit in traffic bound by orange barrels that line our highways. It is something that schoolchildren experience at their desks, crowded together under leaking roofs. Right here in Washington, municipal sewer systems overflowed last year, washing millions of gallons of raw sewage into the Potomac and Anacostia rivers into the Chesapeake Bay. These incidents happen every year and happen with increasingly regularity as systems age. Infrastructure problems threaten our productivity, our economy, our environment and our health...
My bill would create a low-cost federal financing mechanism to administer $50 billion in zero- interest loans every year to localities for infrastructure projects for ten years. Twenty percent of these funds would be targeted for school construction and repair. States would be totally responsible for choosing which projects to fund with the loans according to their specific needs.
This bill would create the Federal Bank for Infrastructure Modernization (FBIM). The bank, as an extension of the Federal Financing bank under the Treasury, would administer the loans. The loans would bear a small fee of one-quarter of one percent of the loan principle to cover the administrative costs of the FBIM.
In order to provide the money for the loans, the FBIM would hold a portion of the Treasury securities that the Federal Reserve normally holds. The Fed currently holds about $300 billion in Treasury securities. By transferring about $50 billion annually to the FBIM, it would still allow the Fed to operate as it does now to add liquidity to the system. The Fed, instead of buying securities, would buy the mortgage loans of the states. This way, the FBIM’s finances would be integrated by the Federal Open Market Committee so as not to disrupt its ability to promote economic stability.
In his February testimony, Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan supported a very similar type of transaction. Already, the Open Market Committee conducts repurchase agreements in mortgage- backed securities guaranteed by the agencies. Greenspan stated: “the FOMC asked the staff to explore the possible mechanisms for backing our usual repurchase operations with the collateral of certain debt obligations of U.S. States and foreign governments.” This bill would follow this advice by providing the tool for the FOMC to integrate the mortgage loans of the states from the FBIM...
The Federal Bank for Infrastructure Modernization is a tool for leveraging the necessary funds. Cities and states would still be responsible for paying the net cost of the project, but by making the loans zero-interest, it cuts the overall cost of the project in half. This is a workable solution that goes a long way in addressing infrastructure needs. I come here today to seek the support of the Budget Committee. With your leadership, this bill could provide the ingenuity, the essential boost that projects need."
A little more info here.
http://kucinich.house.gov/Issues/Issue/?IssueID=1554