Press Releases

Rep. Salud Carbajal announced the introduction of his new bill to create a national infrastructure bank today at the 11th North American Infrastructure Leadership Forum hosted by CG/LA Infrastructure.

The bill, named the National Infrastructure Investment Corporation (NIIC) Act of 2019, sets up a national infrastructure bank that would help leverage private dollars to give local governments another way to fund critical infrastructure projects.

“[This bill] helps communities gain funding to repair what they have, and build resilient infrastructure moving forward,” said Rep. Carbajal at the event. “It would be governed by an independent, apolitical board of infrastructure and public policy experts, and labor leaders. This keeps politics and partisan fighting out of important infrastructure funding decisions.”

“There is a multiplier effect with investing in infrastructure. It helps improve and modernize our transportation systems, strengthens our economy and increases the creation of good-paying jobs,” said Carbajal.

The NIIC Act allows for municipal, state and union pension fund loans to be used as investments in infrastructure projects. This is a way to jumpstart crucial infrastructure projects, while ensuring the original money, as well as the interest collected on it, is returned to employees when it comes time to collect their pensions. The infrastructure bank proposed in this bill does not require excess federal spending and it allows communities to invest in sustainable, resilient infrastructure. The NIIC Act will be formally introduced in the House this week.

Carbajal is vice chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and has been a vocal proponent of infrastructure investments on the Central Coast and across the nation. He represents California’s 24th Congressional District, encompassing Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and part of Ventura County.