SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL

55th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2022

INTRODUCED BY

Bill Tallman

A JOINT MEMORIAL

URGING THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS TO PASS H.R. 3339, THE NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE BANK ACT OF 2021, TO CREATE A NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE BANK TO FINANCE URGENTLY NEEDED INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS.

     WHEREAS, the American society of civil engineers stated in its 2021 report card that the United States received a grade of C- regarding the current state of its infrastructure and that approximately six trillion dollars ($6,000,000,000,000) would be needed to restore the nation's infrastructure to a state of good repair; and

     WHEREAS, a budget shortfall of over two trillion five hundred billion dollars ($2,500,000,000,000) is currently not funded, the remainder is inadequately funded and new, twenty-first century projects are also unfunded; and

     WHEREAS, China spends eight percent of its gross domestic product on infrastructure; Europe spends five percent; and the United States spends less than two percent; and

     WHEREAS, the American society of civil engineers report card states that over thirty percent of New Mexico's roads are in poor condition, and each driver in the state spends over seven hundred fifty dollars ($750) annually in car repairs; five and five-tenths percent of the state's bridges are rated structurally deficient; and two hundred nineteen dams are rated as having high hazard potential; and

     WHEREAS, the cost to bring drinking water infrastructure to a state of good repair is approximately one billion four hundred million dollars ($1,400,000,000); and

     WHEREAS, twenty-two percent of New Mexico's students lack internet service at home and thirty-two percent do not have access to their own computers, and the situation is worse in tribal communities; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico ranks third worst nationally with a poverty rate of over eighteen percent and ranks second to last in child poverty with a rate of approximately thirty percent; and

     WHEREAS, a new national infrastructure bank could help finance much of New Mexico's 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, United States Representative Danny K. Davis introduced H.R. 3339, the National Infrastructure Bank Act of 2021, 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, entitle project workers to be paid no less than locally prevailing wages and fringe benefits pursuant to the Davis-Bacon Act, 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 nineteen state legislatures having introduced or passed resolutions of support; and

     WHEREAS, endorsements also include 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 LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the United States congress be urged to pass H.R. 3339, the National Infrastructure Bank Act of 2021, 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.

- 6 -