Fact Sheet on the National Infrastructure Bank ACT of 2025, H.R. 5356 Coalition for a National Infrastructure Bank
What is H.R 5356:
• H.R. 5356 , a congressional bill introduced by Representative Danny Davis, would establish a National Infrastructure Bank to facilitate efficient investments and financing of infrastructure projects and new job creation
How the National Infrastructure Bank (NIB) Works:
• Bill creates a $5 trillion public bank to lend for infrastructure projects only • Covers 18 Project categories monitored by the American Society of Civil Engineers • Additional categories: Affordable Housing, High -Speed Rail, Grid, Water projects to address drought
• Creates 20 million new jobs, Davis -Bacon wages, Buy America, significant investment in low income urban and rural communities, benefitting small businesses • Supercharges the economy: GDP increase 5% per year
• Requires no new Federal Spending, Taxes, or Debt
• Source of Capital: Existing U.S. Treasury Bonds held in private accounts; exchanged for Preferred Stock (silent partners, no voting)
• Conventional commercial bank lending, low interest loans at Treasury bond rates; flexible terms; loan maturity over project lifetime
• Excess profits go to Trust Fund to provide grants for poor communities Frequently Asked Questions
• Will the bank spending cause inflation? $5 trillion is a large sum. No. The bank will generate 3 times more real wealth in goods output (supply) than financial input (demand), hence it will be anti-inflationary (greater supply than demand). The bank will increase total factor productivity by
3.5% per year, thereby making the economy far more productive, while bringing production costs and prices down.
• Will the bank investments add to the national debt? No. The NIB is an “off-budget,” government- owned entity that provides credit just like a commercial bank. It requires no money from the budget to start or run its operations. In fact, NIB operations will make money for government. • Will the bank undercut the municipal bond market or private local banks ? No, the NIB will complement/top up financing provided by bond markets and local banks. The lessons of the 1930s New Deal recovery offer guidance: as the economy grows, the municipal bond market will thrive. • Who will make the decisions on investment? The Congress, government? T he Bank will be governed by a 25 -person Board of Directors composed of: engineers and construction experts; state, local, and minority group representatives to ensure sound economic development and jobs for local workers, minorities and small businesses; and union officials with experience in building projects and training workers. State and local governments, and municipal authorities, will decide on specific loans for the infrastructure they each own – in 20 categories of hard infrastructure defined in the statute – and the NIB will assist borrowers with technical, engineering, and legal back-office support. The NIB is sized to be large enough to cover all of these loans over a 10-year period.
• How will provisions of the bank’s statute be enforced? There are several layers of protection to ensure compliance with the bank’s statute: an Inspector General, risk managers, fully transparent accounts, annual audits, and loan compliance officers charged with ensuring that projects are implemented with efficiency and speed.