HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 69 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE QUADE. 5300H.01I DANA RADEMAN MILLER, Chief Clerk
WHEREAS, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) stated in its 2021 2 report card that the United States received a grade of C- regarding the current state of 3 infrastructure and that more than six trillion dollars would be needed to restore the nation s 4 infrastructure to a state of good repair; and 5 6 WHEREAS, of that six trillion dollars of funding needed for infrastructure, over two 7 and a half trillion dollars is currently not funded, the remainder is inadequately funded, and all 8 new twenty-first-century projects are unfunded; and 9 10 WHEREAS, the ASCE gave the state of Missouri a grade of C- in its 2018 report 11 card. In the state, dams were rated D-; energy, D+; inland waterways, D; levees, D+; and 12 roads, D+. Twenty-three percent of Missouri roads are in poor condition and have a cost per 13 motorist of seven hundred dollars annually. Twelve percent of Missouri bridges are 14 structurally deficient, and sixty-eight percent of Missouri dams are graded as having high or 15 significant hazard potential; and 16 17 WHEREAS, the City of St. Louis and St. Louis County need more than thirty-five 18 thousand affordable housing units to provide for minority and other households and for low- 19 income families and renters, according to the St. Louis Affordable Housing Report; and 20 21 WHEREAS, twenty percent of the Missouri population does not have access to high- 22 speed internet, according to the Federal Communications Commission, and the Missouri 23 department of elementary and secondary education reports one in five students does not have 24 access to the internet at home; and 25 26 WHEREAS, inland waterways on the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers face funding 27 shortfalls to repair and replace locks and dams. Five locks on the Mississippi River are fifty HCR 69 2
28 percent below the standard size and inhibit barge traffic on the river. Persistent flooding in the 29 Missouri River Valley has caused repeated economic and personal hardship, and a multi-state 30 Missouri River Authority, modeled on the Tennessee Valley Authority, could address this 31 problem; and 32 33 WHEREAS, H.R. 3339 was introduced in the United States House of Representatives 34 and would create a five-trillion-dollar National Infrastructure Bank (NIB); and 35 36 WHEREAS, the NIB is modeled on previous national banks, which helped build 37 much of the country's infrastructure under Presidents George Washington, James Madison, 38 Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. The last national bank helped bring the 39 country out of the Depression and win World War II; and 40 41 WHEREAS, the new National Infrastructure Bank will function like its predecessors. 42 It will be capitalized by repurposing existing United States Treasury debt and will require no 43 new federal appropriations and no new federal taxes. It will invest five trillion dollars only 44 into infrastructure and will create twenty-five million new high-paying jobs. Projects funded 45 by the NIB will pay Davis-Bacon wages and include Buy American provisions. The NIB will 46 support disadvantaged business enterprises and will mandate extensive minority hiring. The 47 NIB will grow the economy by five percent per year, as did its predecessors; and 48 49 WHEREAS, many organizations are in support of the legislation. Twenty-two state 50 legislatures have filed resolutions of support, as did numerous county and city councils. Such 51 resolutions of support have been passed by entities including the Nevada Legislature, Maine 52 Legislature, Rhode Island Senate, New Jersey Senate, and Illinois House. Other 53 endorsements have been passed by cities such as Chicago, Philadelphia, Cleveland, and 54 Pittsburgh and by county associations such as the Florida Association of Counties, New York 55 State Association of Counties, and County Council Association of Pennsylvania. Other 56 groups that support H.R. 3339 include the National Congress of Black Women, the National 57 Association of Counties (NACO), the National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL), 58 the National Latino Farmers and Ranchers, the American Sustainable Business Council, the 59 National Association of Minority Contractors, the United Association of Plumbers and 60 Steamfitters International Union, the United States High Speed Rail Association, the National 61 Federation of Federal Employees, and many others: 62 63 NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the members of the House of 64 Representatives of the One Hundred First General Assembly, Second Regular Session, the HCR 69 3
65 Senate concurring therein, hereby urge the United States Congress to pass H.R. 3339 to create 66 a National Infrastructure Bank that can finance urgently needed infrastructure projects; and 67 68 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives 69 be instructed to prepare a properly inscribed copy of this resolution for each member of the 70 Missouri Congressional delegation, the President of the United States, and the Governor of 71 Missouri.