WASHINGTON, D.C. – In Advance of President Obama’s visit to Cincinnati next week, Brown stepped up pressure to pass jobs legislation that would ease our nation’s infrastructure deficit, provide for the repair of critical projects, and put Ohioans back to work. Brown travelled to Cincinnati in August and, in front of the Brent Spence bridge, announced legislation to create a National Infrastructure Bank.

“If there’s any location more symbolic of the need to create jobs by investing in infrastructure, it’s the Brent Spence Bridge,” Brown said. “Next week, the President will travel to Cincinnati, where efforts to fix the Brent Spence bridge enjoy broad, bipartisan support. His visit should serve as a reminder to Congress that we need to put the partisan bickering aside and create jobs and promote long-term economic development by investing in infrastructure.”

Last month, in front of the Brent Spence Bridge in Cincinnati, Brown outlined a bill that would create a national infrastructure bank to provide loans and loan guarantees for critical infrastructure projects of national and regional importance that create and protect jobs, increase economic competitiveness, bolster exports, and encourage private investment—like the Brent Spence Bridge.

Earlier this month, during an address to a joint session of Congress, President Obama highlighted the Brent Spence Bridge and called on Congress to pass legislation similar to Brown’s infrastructure bank bill.

According to the Federal Highway Administration, for every $1 billion spent on highway and bridge construction, nearly 35,000 jobs are created. These include direct jobs involved in the construction of infrastructure projects, indirect jobs created by the purchase of supplies for projects, and induced jobs supported by new consumer spending when Americans go back to work. Additionally, infrastructure investments – including transportation improvements and ensuring clean, affordable water – help attract economic development. According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, failing infrastructure could cost the U.S. $2.7 trillion—or $129 billion a year— in lost productivity and lost income in trade in the coming decades.

Specifically, the National Infrastructure Bank Act of 2011 would:

  • Provide low-interest loans, loan guarantees, and loan forgiveness for projects unable to obtain full financing on the private market or from local funding.
  • Establish an independent entity to rate and select important projects that would achieve specific national goals of job creation, economic growth, or increased competiveness.
  • Encourage increased investment from the private sector in our nation’s infrastructure.
  • Create good-paying, middle-class jobs by bolstering the construction industry including workers, suppliers, and domestic manufacturers.
  • Reduce the backlog in construction projects by freeing up additional funds from existing infrastructure programs to fund additional projects at the state and local level.

 

 

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