Treasury Chief to Senate Panel: Use Private Capital in Infrastructure
Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew on Feb. 5 said he hoped Congress and the Obama administration would agree on proposals to expand private investments to pay for major infrastructure projects around the country.
At a Senate Finance Committee hearing, Lew said that approving a six-year transportation bill that boosts infrastructure funding would require significant contributions from the private sector.
“The idea is to create opportunities for private capital to be invested in infrastructure,” Lew told the panel’s ranking Democrat, Ron Wyden of Oregon. “Our infrastructure deficit is one of the real serious economic challenges for us to deal with in order to make sure that the future of our economy is as bright as it has been in the past.”
Last month the administration announced it would create a Qualified Public Infrastructure Bond that would extend benefits under municipal bonds to public-private partnerships. These would involve long-term leasing and management contracts, lowering borrowing costs and attracting new capital. But congressional leaders have yet to announce what sources of funding they intend to adopt to fund a multi-year surface transportation reauthorization ahead of May 31. That’s when funding for the federal Highway Trust Fund is projected to expire.
