Rendell: National Infrastructure Bank Could Move as Part of New Jobs Bill

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D), who is in Washington today continuing his push for a “front-loaded”
federal transportation bill, told Streetsblog Capitol Hill that he sees
momentum building for a National Infrastructure Bank (NIB) to be
created as part of the jobs bill now moving forward in Congress.

Gov. Ed Rendell (D-PA) (Photo: Post-Gazette)

Rendell, who co-chairs the infrastructure advocacy group Building America’s Future
with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I) and California Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), has proposed seeding a new NIB using part of
a short-term loan from the federal Treasury to the nation’s highway
trust fund — the meat of the “front-loading” concept.

“The
original stimulus bill had decent infrastructure spending,” Rendell
said in an interview. “It probably should have had more.”

The Pennsylvanian, who is bidding
for his state to become only the third in America to add tolls to an
existing interstate highway, described a “front-loaded” transport
spending bill as a means to create jobs quickly while giving Congress
time to reach an agreement on long-term infrastructure reform after the
2010 midterms.