US government to propose $4 billion for an infrastructure bank

Published: 03-Feb-2010

Obama administration has proposed $4 billion to capitalize an infrastructure bank that would help in financing major transport, water, communications, and other important construction projects.

The proposed fiscal 2011 budget would create a national infrastructure bank, called a National Infrastructure Innovation and Finance Fund to fund major transportation projects and provide an additional $1 billion for high-speed rail projects.

The fund would be used to expand existing federal transportation investments by providing direct federal funding and seed money for large-scale capital project grants that "provide a significant economic benefit to the nation or a region." The federal highway program grants would be raised $200 million more to $41.3 billion, and transit investment would climb $70 million to $10.8 billion.

A sum of $527 million would be used to integrate transportation, housing and other investments, as a part of multi-agency plan that also would include the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Environmental Protection Agency.

The proposed budget also includes $1 billion for high-speed rail, on top of $8 billion in stimulus funds awarded last week to 31 states for high-speed rail projects.

The Federal Railroad Administration's estimated budget would fall 35% to $2.83 billion from $4.36 billion in fiscal year 2010, while that for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration would drop 4.9% to an estimated $136 million from $143 million a year earlier.