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A RESOLUTION urging the United States Congress to enact legislation to 1
establish a National Infrastructure Bank. 2
WHEREAS, the American Society of Civil Engineers stated in its 2021 report card 3
that the United States received a grade of C- regarding the current state of infrastructure 4
and that more than six trillion dollars would be needed to restore the nation’s 5
infrastructure to a state of good repair, that over two trillion dollars is currently not 6
funded and the remainder is inadequately funded, and that new, 21st Century projects 7
remain unfunded; and 8
WHEREAS, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet has identified six billion dollars 9
in unfunded transportation construction projects; and 10
WHEREAS, 2,857 bridges have been identified as needing repair across Kentucky, 11
which the state estimates will cost $1.8 billion, the new bridge over Interstate 75 next to 12
the Brent Spence Bridge will cost at least $3.6 billion of which $1.6 billion has been 13
awarded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the new Ohio River crossing of 14
Interstate 69 will cost an estimated $1.2 billion; and 15
WHEREAS, drinking water infrastructure needs in the state are estimated to cost 16
$8.2 billion over 20 years and that $6.2 billion is needed for wastewater projects; and 17
WHEREAS, Kentucky is in need of at least 90,000 new rental properties to address 18
the shortfall for those in the lowest area median income who are in need of housing; and 19
WHEREAS, as of 2017, there were 53,000 public lead water service lines in 20
Kentucky and 3.8% of homes in the state have full or partial lead service lines that need 21
to be replaced; and 22
WHEREAS, the National Infrastructure Bank Act of 2023 has been introduced in 23
the United States House of Representatives as H.R. 4052 and if enacted would create a 24
new National Infrastructure Bank (NIB) authorized to invest five trillion dollars in 25
infrastructure projects only, require no new federal spending and no new federal taxes, 26
and be capitalized by existing treasury debt as was done previously in United States 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 874
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history; and 1
WHEREAS, the NIB would collaborate with the state, city, and county 2
governments of the Commonwealth to construct necessary infrastructure in the state and 3
bring it up to a state of good repair; and 4
WHEREAS, the NIB is modeled on previous banks which helped build much of our 5
infrastructure under Presidents George Washington, James Madison, Abraham Lincoln, 6
and Franklin D. Roosevelt, with the last bank helping to bring America out of the Great 7
Depression and win WWII; and 8
WHEREAS, the NIB will create 25 million new jobs, pay prevailing wages, include 9
Buy America provisions, provide disadvantaged business enterprises with significant 10
disbursements, and mandate large-scale minority hiring. The NIB will also dramatically 11
expand small and medium size businesses, increase revenues into state and local 12
governments, and, according to experts, grow the economy by 5% per year as did its 13
predecessors; and 14
WHEREAS, many organizations have issued endorsements of the NIB, including 15
twenty-six state legislatures having introduced or passed resolutions of support, as well as 16
many local governments nationwide, along with endorsements from the Council of State 17
Governments East, the National Black Caucus of State Legislators, the National Asian-18
Pacific American Caucus of State Legislators, the National Hispanic Caucus of State 19
Legislators, the National Association of Development Organizations and all 541 Regional 20
Planning Commissions, the National Association of Counties, the U.S. High Speed Rail 21
Association, the American Sustainable Business Council, the National Association of 22
Minority Contractors, the United Association of Plumbers and Steamfitters, and many 23
more organizations; 24
NOW, THEREFORE, 25
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the General Assembly of the 26
Commonwealth of Kentucky: 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 874
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Section 1. This honorable body respectfully urges the United States Congress to 1
enact legislation to establish a National Infrastructure Bank. 2
Section 2. The Clerk of the House of Representatives is directed to transmit a 3
copy of this Resolution to the President of the United States, the Speaker of the United 4
States House of Representatives, the Minority Leader of the United States House of 5
Representatives, the Majority Leader of the United States Senate, the Minority Leader of 6
the United States Senate, each member of the Kentucky Congressional delegation, and 7
the Governor of the Commonwealth. 8