Reason Foundation’s Robert Poole: Delaney Infrastructure Bill a “Step in the Right Direction”

WASHINGTON – Robert Poole, the Director of Transportation Policy and the Searle Freedom Trust Transportation Fellow at the Reason Foundation, highlighted H.R. 2084, The Partnership to Build America Act in this month’s Reason Foundation transportation newsletter.  Evaluating The Partnership to Build America Act, Poole called the legislation a “step in the right direction.”

The Partnership to Build America Act creates a $50 billion dollar infrastructure fund that can be leveraged to $750 billion. This fund will be capitalized by the sale of 50-year bonds that are not guaranteed by the Federal government and pay 1% interest rate. To encourage U.S. corporations to purchase these bonds, they will be allowed to repatriate a certain dollar amount – determined by auction - in overseas earnings tax-free for every $1 they invest in the bonds. The fund will then provide loans or loan guarantees to states and municipalities to finance transportation, energy, communications, water, and education infrastructure projects.

H.R. 2084 was introduced in May with 13 Republican and 13 Democratic cosponsors, and currently has 17 Republican and 17 Democratic cosponsors.   

To conclude his analysis of H.R. 2084, Poole writes:

I have been skeptical of all proposals for a "national infrastructure bank," primarily concerned about their likely evolution into entities like those FDR created during the Depression, which funded projects primarily on political criteria. With the federal government already vastly over-indebted, adding more questionable debt is the last thing we need. Delaney has proposed a different approach, which would involve no federal budget allocations and issue no debt that puts federal taxpayers at risk. I do think its PPP provisions need further work, but I welcome this new proposal as a step in the right direction.

To read Poole’s full analysis, click here. For Poole’s biography, click here.

##