There has been a flurry of discussion in Congress on the infrastructure front, but whether the rhetoric will turn into additional federal funds isn’t clear. Recent developments included a Senate hearing on a bill to set up a national infrastructure bank and a meeting of House Democrats on public works financing called by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). There also are hopes in transportation circles that Congress will draft a second economic stimulus package, including infrastructure aid.
Pelosi’s interest in public works raises the issue’s visibility. Lawmakers at the Capitol Hill meeting she convened on March 12 heard from state and local officials and Wall Street executives on how to think “in a new, fresh way about how we finance the building of our infrastructure,” Pelosi said. “The need is clear. The urgency is great.” But it wasn’t clear what sort of plan Pelosi had in mind.