Wyden-Inspired Program to Create Jobs Included in Economic Recovery Package
Build America Bonds Will Restore America's Aging Infrastructure While Creating Jobs and Allowing for Investment in America's Future
Washington, D.C. - Fighting to make sure all Americans can "get in on the ground floor" of the economic recovery, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore) announced today that a version of his Build America Bonds program was included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). The program will create much-needed jobs for Oregon and the nation through investment in infrastructure construction and repair.
"This is an innovativesolution to a national problem that rewards Americans for supporting the creation of better communities," Wyden said. "Build America Bonds will help put Oregonians back to work and rebuild our aging infrastructure while specifically targeting our nation's hardest hit areas."
The Build America Bonds program offers American institutions and individuals the ability to purchase a uniquely crafted bond that gives holders a tax credit in addition to their bond interest, or to get a higher interest rate in exchange forallowing the issuer to receive the tax credit. The principal will create jobs by allowing potentially tens of billions of dollars worth of projects, including roads, bridges, transit, water projects, port construction, and broadband deployment, to be built in Oregon and across the nation.
The ARRA also includes a special form of Build America Bond which can be issued in areas hit particularly hard by the economic crisis. A limited number of Recovery Zone Build America Bonds will have a higher tax credit, making it easier to attract investment to areas of the country that need it most.
The Build America Bonds Program enjoys the support of a diverse group of business, labor, and transportation infrastructure associations including the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, the National Association of Manufacturers, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; and many others.
See what some of these organizations had to say about Build America Bonds:
"AASHTO is pleased that the Senate Finance Committee and Senator Wyden's work has resulted in this new tax credit bond program," saidJack Basso, AASHTO's Director of Program Finance and Management. "This will open up opportunities for expanded investment in infrastructure and allow testing of the use of tax credit bonds as one part of comprehensive investment in highway and transit infrastructure. It may well lay the foundation for further expanded programs in the SAFETEA-LU reauthorization."
"The Build America Bonds provisions that Senator Wyden worked to include in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) serve as an important step in improving and expanding the financing tools we need to help tackle our nation's enormous infrastructure needs," said Bruce Josten, Executive Vice President for U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "The Chamber appreciates his leadership and recognition that the exponentially growing infrastructure challenges in the United States require innovative solutions."
"The NAM thanks Senator Wyden for histireless advocacy of the Build America Bonds proposal. The inclusion of Build America Bonds in the stimulus and expansion of tax credit financing will be an important new tool available to states and localities that are charged with building and modernizing our nation's infrastructure," said Rosario Palmieri, Vice President for Infrastructure Legal and Regulatory Affairs for the National Association of Manufacturers. "Manufacturers require an efficient and productive transportation system and this innovative financing mechanism opens the door for states and localities to focus on quality transportation projects that add lasting value and provide economic opportunity."
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