Senate Finance Committee on Infrastructure Financing

This week, the Senate Finance Committee laid the groundwork for bipartisan collaboration on infrastructure financing that focused more on areas of agreement such as bonding and public-private partnerships.  Chair Wyden and ranking member Crapo called for bringing back the Obama-era Build America Bonds program, which provided federal payments for states and localities to issue taxable municipal bonds at higher interest rates.   Chair Wyden said that in the year and a half after the 2009 stimulus law was enacted, $182 billion worth of Build America Bonds were sold.  Ranking Member Crapo said he agreed with Wyden that Build America Bonds "can be a significant way of incentivizing private capital into our infrastructure." He encouraged the committee to consider other public-private partnership proposals, like improvements to existing credit programs for highway, transit, rail, and water projects, but other Republicans suggested a new fee on electric vehicles.