By Dennis Moore
WASHINGTON - Transportation industry and government groups have not found a lot to like in President Obama's American Jobs Act, and they are particularly unhappy about the proposed infrastructure bank.
The jobs bill would create the American Infrastructure Financing Authority as a wholly owned government corporation that would "provide direct loans and loan guarantees to facilitate investment in economically viable infrastructure projects of regional or national significance," according to administration officials.
The bank would be run by a chief executive officer and a seven-member board of directors, all of whom would be appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. But one problem infrastructure advocates see with the AIFA is timing.
The bank would be capitalized with a $10 billion congressional appropriation for each of its first two years. Loans would go to projects of at least $100 million, or $25 million in rural areas. The loan or loan guarantee could finance no more than 50% of the project’s cost. The base interest rate on a direct loan would be at least the rate on Treasury debt with a similar maturity.
Read the entire article at The Bond Buyer.
