2023 House Resolution 167

Whereas, In its 2021 report card, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) reported that the United States received a grade of C- regarding the current state of its infrastructure. There remains a two point five trillion dollar investment gap that has continuously grown over the past decade. ASCE estimates that by 2039, this continued underinvestment in critical infrastructure across the country will cost our nation ten trillion dollars in GDP, more than three million jobs, and over two trillion dollars in exports; and

Whereas, As of 2023, the ASCE has also scored Michigan’s infrastructure with a grade of C-, matching the general state of infrastructure disrepair nationwide. Many of Michigan’s roads remain in appalling condition. The ASCE has rated approximately thirty-three percent of Michigan’s one-hundred and twenty thousand miles of paved roadways in poor condition, forty-two percent in fair condition, and a mere twenty-five percent in good condition. Wayne County, as just one example, has reported nearly sixty percent of its roads to be in poor condition. Finally, eleven percent of Michigan’s bridges have been deemed structurally deficient, higher than the national average of seven-and-one-half percent. These poor infrastructure conditions cost Michigan motorists, collectively, billions of dollars each year in wasted time and fuel, traffic crashes and injuries, and vehicle degradation; and

Whereas, The Detroit Public Schools Community District is in a state of dilapidated repair and likely requires over one billion dollars to restore. These schools are suffering from inoperable boilers, corroded plumbing fixtures, cracking exterior walls, leaking roofs, and faulty electrical panels known to be fire hazards. At least one hundred schools have current capital needs. In September 2018, the drinking water in fifty-seven of the eighty-six tested Detroit schools were found to have elevated levels of both copper and lead; and

Whereas, Housing insecurity predates the pandemic and remains a pressing concern for Michiganders across the state. There remains a shortage of two-hundred thousand affordable and available rental homes for low-income renters. In 2019, more than ten thousand Detroit residents experienced homelessness, including two-thousand three-hundred and twenty-six who were chronically homeless. Of course, COVID-19 exacerbated this crisis. In January of 2021 alone, more than three-thousand five hundred Detroiters requested rental payment assistance; and

Whereas, The United States Congress’s introduction of HR 4052, The National Infrastructure Bank Act, which would create a new National Infrastructure Bank, presents a tremendous opportunity for acquiring funding to remedy Michigan’s infrastructure problems. This legislation would create a five trillion dollar bank for the purpose of, in pertinent part, “facilitate[ing] efficient, long-term financing of infrastructure projects.” This bank would not require additional federal spending or the imposition of new federal taxes, instead being financed entirely by repurposing existing Department of the Treasury debt; and

Whereas, The National Infrastructure Bank Act is modeled on the establishment of previous banks utilized to build much of our nation’s infrastructure. Similar banks were employed under Presidents George Washington, James Madison, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. With the resources consolidated and deployed by virtue of the most recent iteration of a national bank, President Roosevelt was able to bring our nation out of the Great Depression and lead us to victory in the Second World War; and

Whereas, A new National Infrastructure Bank will help finance all of Michigan’s infrastructure needs. This bank, as described in HR 4052, would exist solely to build infrastructure, generate jobs, and battle poverty. Funding from this bank would be used to fix bridges, roads, schools, and drinking water systems; build affordable housing units; and install broadband across the nation. The bank would finance new rail and mass transportation projects, connecting Michigan to high-speed rail corridors in the Midwest and dramatically increasing manufacturing in our state. Funds would be used to hire and train many Michiganders who lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic; and

Whereas, Support for a National Infrastructure Bank is widespread across our state and the nation. At least twenty-one state legislatures have introduced or passed resolutions of support for HR 4052 or previously-introduced legislation on the topic. Local-level municipal bodies across the nation have also expressed support, including: Detroit City Council, Dearborn Heights City Council, Highland Park City Council, Inkster City Council, Hamtramck City Council, Romulus City Council, Redford Township Council, Cleveland City Council, Pittsburgh City Council, Chicago City Council, Providence RI City Council, Philadelphia City Council, New York City Council, Toledo City Council, Akron City Council, and many more. National organizations that endorse the establishment of National Infrastructure Bank include: the Public Banking Institute, the National Black Caucus of State Legislators, the National Congress of Black Women, the National Hispanic Caucus, the National Latino Farmers and Ranchers, the Asian Pacific Legislators, the National Association of Counties, the US High Speed Rail Association, the American Sustainable Business Council, the National Association of Minority Contractors, the National Federation of Federal Employees, and many others; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives, That we support federal legislation, HR 4052, to enable the creation of a National Infrastructure Bank; and be it further

Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, the Governor, and the Michigan congressional delegation.