SENATE MEMORIAL
55th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2021
INTRODUCED BY
Bill Tallman
A MEMORIAL
URGING THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS TO PASS H.R. 6422, THE NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE BANK ACT OF 2020, TO CREATE A NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE BANK TO FINANCE URGENTLY NEEDED INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS.
WHEREAS, the American society of civil engineers stated in its 2017 report card that the United States received a grade of D+ regarding the current state of its infrastructure and that more than four trillion five hundred billion dollars ($4,500,000,000,000) would be needed to restore the nation's infrastructure to a state of good repair; and
WHEREAS, a budget shortfall of over two trillion dollars ($2,000,000,000,000) is currently not funded, the remainder is inadequately funded and new, twenty-first century projects are also unfunded; and
WHEREAS, the American society of civil engineers report card states that thirty percent of New Mexico's roads are in poor condition, and each driver in the state spends nearly six hundred dollars ($600) annually in car repairs, while six and five-tenths percent of the state's bridges are rated structurally deficient, and one hundred sixty-seven dams are rated as having high hazard potential; and
WHEREAS, the cost to bring drinking water infrastructure to a state of good repair is over one billion dollars ($1,000,000,000); and
WHEREAS, twenty-five percent of New Mexico's students lack internet service at home, eight percent do not have a computer and the situation is worse in tribal communities; and
WHEREAS, New Mexico ranks third worst nationally with a nineteen percent poverty rate and ranks last in child poverty with a rate of thirty percent; and
WHEREAS, a new national infrastructure bank could help finance much of New Mexico infrastructure maintenance and improvements in partnership with state and local governments and other institutions, and it could also provide assistance to hire workers who have lost their jobs during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic; and
WHEREAS, a new national infrastructure bank would exchange existing United States department of the treasury debt for preferred stock in the bank and would require no new federal debt; and
WHEREAS, a new national infrastructure bank would pay interest of two percentage points above the United States department of the treasury yield to investors, with all transactions being federally insured, and the interest would be included in the United States budget and not go through appropriations; and
WHEREAS, a national infrastructure bank is modeled on previous banks, which have helped to build much of the United States' infrastructure, initiated by the first United States department of the treasury secretary Alexander Hamilton and continued under Presidents George Washington, James Madison, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt; and
WHEREAS, a new national infrastructure bank would perform as a traditional commercial bank and be able to provide financing in the form of long-term loans at United States department of the treasury rates for infrastructure projects only; and
WHEREAS, a new national infrastructure bank would loan four trillion dollars ($4,000,000,000,000) to states, cities, counties, authorities and multistate entities to address the infrastructure crisis of the nation; and
WHEREAS, a new national infrastructure bank board of directors would be composed of mainly engineers and infrastructure experts, along with state, local and county officials with experience in infrastructure construction to assist in the implementation of projects; and
WHEREAS, a new national infrastructure bank would report all banking transactions to the United States congress on a regular basis; and
WHEREAS, the last such national infrastructure bank helped bring the United States out of the Great Depression and win World War II; and
WHEREAS, congress introduced H.R. 6422, the National Infrastructure Bank Act of 2020, to create a new four-trillion-dollar ($4,000,000,000,000) national infrastructure bank authorized to invest in infrastructure projects only; and
WHEREAS, a new national infrastructure bank would require no new federal spending and be capitalized by repurposing existing United States department of the treasury debt, as has been done previously in United States history; and
WHEREAS, a new national infrastructure bank could create twenty-five million new high-paying jobs, pay federal Davis-Bacon Act wages, ensure project labor agreements and include buy American provisions; and
WHEREAS, disadvantaged business enterprises would receive significant support, with mandates of large-scale minority hiring and substantial investment in Native American communities; and
WHEREAS, according to experts, a national infrastructure bank would grow the economy by four to five percent per year, as did its predecessors; and
WHEREAS, many city and county councils, labor unions and other organizations have issued endorsements, with seventeen state legislatures having introduced or passed resolutions of support; and
WHEREAS, endorsements include the South Carolina house of representatives, the Alabama house of representatives, the Illinois house of representatives, the national congress of black women, the national association of counties, the Rio Arriba board of county commissioners, the United States high speed rail association, the national Latino farmers and ranchers trade association, the American sustainable business council, the national association of minority contractors, the national federation of federal employees and many more organizations;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the United States congress be urged to pass H.R. 6422, the National Infrastructure Bank Act of 2020, to create a national infrastructure bank to finance urgently needed infrastructure projects; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the New Mexico congressional delegation and to the members of the United States congress.
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