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House Memorial 1
A memorial to the Congress of the United States, 2
requesting Congress to pass House Resolution 3339, 3
creating a National Infrastructure Bank to finance 4
urgently needed infrastructure projects. 5
6
WHEREAS, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave the 7
United States a grade of C - in its America's Infrastructure 8
Report Card 2021 and reported that more than $4.5 trillion would 9
be needed to restore the nation's infrastr ucture to a state of 10
good repair, yet less than half of that amount is currently 11
funded and the remainder is inadequately funded, and 12
WHEREAS, new 21st century projects are also unfunded, and 13
WHEREAS, 13 percent of Florida's roads are in poor 14
condition, costing drivers in Florida roughly $425 per year to 15
drive in the state, and 15 percent of Florida's bridges are at 16
least 50 years old and 2.9 percent are rated structurally 17
deficient, and 18
WHEREAS, Florida has serious water infrastructure issues 19
and the state's drinking water needs total an estimated $21.9 20
billion, wastewater needs are estimated to total $18.4 billion, 21
and stormwater management needs are estimated to be $1.1 22
billion, and 23
WHEREAS, the National Low Income Housing Coalition reports 24
a shortage of 384,743 affordable rental homes available for 25
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extremely low-income renters, and Florida International 26
University in its reports titled "Miami's Housing Affordability 27
Crisis" has documented that six in 10 employed adult residents 28
of Greater Miami spend more than 30 percent of their incomes on 29
housing, which is the highest rate of any large metro area in 30
the nation, and 31
WHEREAS, on May 19, 2021, Congress introduced House 32
Resolution 3339 (HR 3339), the National Infrastructure Bank Act 33
of 2021, which will create a new $5 trillion national 34
infrastructure bank to invest in infrastructure projects, and 35
WHEREAS, the National Infrastructure Bank Act of 2021 would 36
require no new federal spending and no new federal taxes and 37
would be capitalized by repurposing e xisting Treasury debt, as 38
was done previously in this country's history, and 39
WHEREAS, the National Infrastructure Bank Act of 2021 would 40
help finance Florida's infrastructure in partnership with the 41
state, county, and other local governments, and 42
WHEREAS, the National Infrastructure Bank Act of 2021 would 43
build infrastructure, create jobs in rural and urban 44
communities, end poverty, bring broadband connectivity into 45
every corner of the state regardless of cost, fix all roads not 46
covered by Congress, and w ould finance new rail lines, including 47
high speed rail, connecting Florida both north -south and east-48
west to the southeast and beyond, and 49
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WHEREAS, the National Infrastructure Bank Act of 2021 would 50
further develop Florida's ports, build 7 million afford able 51
housing units in the nation, including in Florida, and hire and 52
train people who lost their jobs during the COVID -19 pandemic 53
and employ them in high -paying jobs to build necessary 54
infrastructure, and 55
WHEREAS, the National Infrastructure Bank is mode led on 56
previous banks that helped build much of this nation's 57
infrastructure under Presidents George Washington, James 58
Madison, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin D. Roosevelt, the last 59
president who helped bring this country out of the Depression 60
and win World War II, and 61
WHEREAS, the National Infrastructure Bank Act of 2021 would 62
create 25 million new jobs, mandate large -scale minority hiring, 63
pay Davis-Bacon wages, include Buy American provisions, and 64
provide disadvantaged business enterprises with signific ant 65
disbursements, and 66
WHEREAS, according to experts, the National Infrastructure 67
Bank Act of 2021 would grow the economy by 5 percent per year as 68
did its predecessors, and 69
WHEREAS, 21 state legislatures have introduced or passed 70
resolutions in support o f HR 3339, as have county and city 71
councils, including the Alachua Board of County Commissioners, 72
the Gainesville City Commission, and the Northern Central 73
Florida Regional Planning Council, and 74
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WHEREAS, national organizations have also passed 75
resolutions endorsing HR 3339, including the Public Banking 76
Institute, the National Congress of Black Women, the National 77
Association of Counties, the US High Speed Rail Association, the 78
National Latino Farmers and Ranchers, the American Sustainable 79
Business Council, the National Association of Minority 80
Contractors, the National Federation of Federal Employees, as 81
well as many community and labor organizations, NOW, THEREFORE, 82
83
Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of 84
Florida: 85
86
That the United States Congress is requested to pass House 87
Resolution 3339, the National Infrastructure Bank Act of 2021, 88
creating a National Infrastructure Bank to finance urgently 89
needed infrastructure projects. 90
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be 91
presented to the President of the United States, to the 92
President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the 93
United States House of Representatives, and to each member of 94
the Florida delegation to the United States Congress. 95