I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3736 

To provide $50,000,000,000 in new transportation infrastructure funding 

through bonding to empower States and local governments to complete 

significant infrastructure projects across all modes of transportation, 

including roads, bridges, rail and transit systems, ports, and inland 

waterways, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 19, 2011 

Mr. WHITFIELD (for himself and Mr. BOSWELL) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To provide $50,000,000,000 in new transportation infrastructure funding through bonding to empower States 

and local governments to complete significant infrastructure projects across all modes of transportation, including roads, bridges, rail and transit systems, ports, and 

inland waterways, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; ETC. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Transportation and Regional Infrastructure Project 

6 Bonds Act of 2011’’ or ‘‘TRIP Bonds Act’’. 


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1 (b) REFERENCES TO INTERNAL REVENUE CODE OF

2 1986.—Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever 

3 in this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms 

4 of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provi5 sion, the reference shall be considered to be made to a 

6 section or other provision of the Internal Revenue Code 

7 of 1986. 

8 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

9 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

10 (1) Our Nation’s highways, transit systems, 

11 railroads, ports, and inland waterways drive our 

12 economy, enabling all industries to achieve growth 

13 and productivity that makes America strong and 

14 prosperous. 

15 (2) The establishment, maintenance, and im16 provement of the national transportation network is 

17 a national priority, for economic, environmental, en18 ergy, security, and other reasons. 

19 (3) The ability to move people and goods is crit20 ical to maintaining State, metropolitan, rural, and 

21 local economies. 

22 (4) The construction of infrastructure requires 

23 the skills of numerous occupations, including those 

24 in the contracting, engineering, planning and design, 


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1 materials supply, manufacturing, distribution, and 

2 safety industries. 

3 (5) Investing in transportation infrastructure 

4 creates long-term capital assets for the Nation that 

5 will help the United States address its enormous in6 frastructure needs and improve its economic produc7 tivity. 

8 (6) Investment in transportation infrastructure 

9 creates jobs and spurs economic activity to put peo10 ple back to work and stimulate the economy. 

11 (7) Every billion dollars in transportation in12 vestment has the potential to create up to 30,000 

13 jobs. 

14 (8) Every dollar invested in the Nation’s trans15 portation infrastructure yields at least $5.70 in eco16 nomic benefits because of reduced delays, improved 

17 safety, and reduced vehicle operating costs. 

18 (9) Numerous experts have noted that the esti19 mated cost to maintain and improve our Nation’s 

20 highways, bridges, and other critical transportation 

21 infrastructure significantly exceeds what is currently 

22 being provided by all levels of government. 

23 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to provide 

24 financing for additional transportation infrastructure cap25 ital investments. 


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1 SEC. 3. CREDIT TO HOLDERS OF TRIP BONDS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart I of part IV of sub3 chapter A of chapter 1 is amended by adding at the end 

4 the following new section: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 54G. TRIP BONDS. 

6 ‘‘(a) TRIP BOND.—For purposes of this subpart, the 

7 term ‘TRIP bond’ means any bond issued as part of an 

8 issue if— 

9 ‘‘(1) 100 percent of the available project pro10 ceeds of such issue are to be used for expenditures 

11 incurred after the date of the enactment of this sec12 tion for 1 or more qualified projects pursuant to an 

13 allocation of such proceeds to such project or 

14 projects by a State infrastructure bank, 

15 ‘‘(2) the bond is issued by a State infrastruc16 ture bank and is in registered form (within the 

17 meaning of section 149(a)), 

18 ‘‘(3) the State infrastructure bank designates 

19 such bond for purposes of this section, 

20 ‘‘(4) the term of each bond which is part of 

21 such issue does not exceed 30 years, 

22 ‘‘(5) the issue meets the requirements of sub23 section (e), 

24 ‘‘(6) the State infrastructure bank certifies that 

25 it meets the State contribution requirement of subVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:06 Dec 24, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3736.IH H3736

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1 section (h) with respect to such project, as in effect 

2 on the date of issuance, and 

3 ‘‘(7) the State infrastructure bank certifies the 

4 State meets the requirement described in subsection 

5 (i). 

6 ‘‘(b) QUALIFIED PROJECT.—For purposes of this 

7 section, the term ‘qualified project’ means the capital im8 provements to any transportation infrastructure project of 

9 any governmental unit or other person, including roads, 

10 bridges, rail and transit systems, ports, and inland water11 ways proposed and approved by a State infrastructure 

12 bank, but does not include costs of operations or mainte13 nance with respect to such project. For purposes of the 

14 preceding sentence, the cost of dredging any port or water15 way shall be treated as a capital improvement and not as 

16 an operations or maintenance cost. 

17 ‘‘(c) APPLICABLE CREDIT RATE.—In lieu of section 

18 54A(b)(3), for purposes of section 54A(b)(2), the applica19 ble credit rate with respect to an issue under this section 

20 is the rate equal to an average market yield (as of the 

21 day before the date of sale of the issue) on outstanding 

22 long-term corporate debt obligations (determined in such 

23 manner as the Secretary prescribes). 

24 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION ON AMOUNT OF BONDS DES25 IGNATED.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The maximum aggregate 

2 face amount of bonds which may be designated 

3 under subsection (a) by any State infrastructure 

4 bank shall not exceed the TRIP bond limitation 

5 amount allocated to such bank under paragraph (3). 

6 ‘‘(2) NATIONAL LIMITATION AMOUNT.—There 

7 is a TRIP bond limitation amount for each calendar 

8 year. Such limitation amount is— 

9 ‘‘(A) $5,000,000,000 for 2011, 

10 ‘‘(B) $5,000,000,000 for 2012, 

11 ‘‘(C) $10,000,000,000 for 2013, 

12 ‘‘(D) $10,000,000,000 for 2014, 

13 ‘‘(E) $10,000,000,000 for 2015, 

14 ‘‘(F) $10,000,000,000 for 2016, and 

15 ‘‘(G) except as provided in paragraph (4), 

16 zero thereafter. 

17 ‘‘(3) ALLOCATIONS TO STATES.—The TRIP 

18 bond limitation amount for each calendar year shall 

19 be allocated by the Secretary among the States such 

20 that each State is allocated 2 percent of such 

21 amount. 

22 ‘‘(4) CARRYOVER OF UNUSED ISSUANCE LIMI23 TATION.—If for any calendar year the TRIP bond 

24 limitation amount under paragraph (2) exceeds the 

25 amount of TRIP bonds issued during such year, 


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1 such excess shall be carried forward to 1 or more 

2 succeeding calendar years as an addition to the 

3 TRIP bond limitation amount under paragraph (2) 

4 for such succeeding calendar year and until used by 

5 issuance of TRIP bonds. 

6 ‘‘(e) SPECIAL RULES RELATING TO EXPENDI7 TURES.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An issue shall be treated as 

9 meeting the requirements of this subsection if, as of 

10 the date of issuance, the State infrastructure bank 

11 reasonably expects— 

12 ‘‘(A) at least 100 percent of the available 

13 project proceeds of such issue are to be spent 

14 for 1 or more qualified projects within the 5- 

15 year expenditure period beginning on such date, 

16 ‘‘(B) to incur a binding commitment with 

17 a third party to spend at least 10 percent of the 

18 proceeds of such issue, or to commence con19 struction, with respect to such projects within 

20 the 12-month period beginning on such date, 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(C) to proceed with due diligence to com23 plete such projects and to spend the proceeds of 

24 such issue. 


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1 ‘‘(2) RULES REGARDING CONTINUING COMPLI2 ANCE AFTER 5-YEAR DETERMINATION.—To the ex3 tent that less than 100 percent of the available 

4 project proceeds of such issue are expended by the 

5 close of the 5-year expenditure period beginning on 

6 the date of issuance, the State infrastructure bank 

7 shall redeem all of the nonqualified bonds within 90 

8 days after the end of such period. For purposes of 

9 this paragraph, the amount of the nonqualified 

10 bonds required to be redeemed shall be determined 

11 in the same manner as under section 142. 

12 ‘‘(f) RECAPTURE OF PORTION OF CREDIT WHERE

13 CESSATION OF COMPLIANCE.—If any bond which when 

14 issued purported to be a TRIP bond ceases to be such 

15 a bond, the State infrastructure bank shall pay to the 

16 United States (at the time required by the Secretary) an 

17 amount equal to the sum of— 

18 ‘‘(1) the aggregate of the credits allowable 

19 under section 54A with respect to such bond (deter20 mined without regard to section 54A(c)) for taxable 

21 years ending during the calendar year in which such 

22 cessation occurs and each succeeding calendar year 

23 ending with the calendar year in which such bond is 

24 redeemed by the bank, and 


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1 ‘‘(2) interest at the underpayment rate under 

2 section 6621 on the amount determined under para3 graph (1) for each calendar year for the period be4 ginning on the first day of such calendar year. 

5 ‘‘(g) TRIP BONDS TRUST ACCOUNT.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The following amounts 

7 shall be held in a TRIP Bonds Trust Account: 

8 ‘‘(A) The proceeds from the sale of all 

9 bonds issued under this section. 

10 ‘‘(B) The investment earnings on proceeds 

11 from the sale of such bonds. 

12 ‘‘(C) The amount described in paragraph 

13 (2). 

14 ‘‘(D) Any earnings on any amounts de15 scribed in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C). 

16 ‘‘(2) APPROPRIATION OF REVENUES.—There is 

17 hereby transferred to the TRIP Bonds Trust Ac18 count an amount equal to the lesser of— 

19 ‘‘(A) the revenues resulting from the impo20 sition of fees pursuant to section 13031 of the 

21 Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation 

22 Act of 1985 (19 U.S.C. 58c) for fiscal years be23 ginning after September 30, 2011, or 

24 ‘‘(B) $50,000,000,000. 


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1 ‘‘(3) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts in the TRIP 

2 Bonds Trust Account may be used only to pay costs 

3 of qualified projects and redeem TRIP bonds, except 

4 that amounts withdrawn from the TRIP Bonds 

5 Trust Account to pay costs of qualified projects may 

6 not exceed the proceeds from the sale of TRIP 

7 bonds described in subsection (a)(1). 

8 ‘‘(4) USE OF REMAINING FUNDS IN TRIP BONDS

9 TRUST ACCOUNT.—Upon the redemption of all TRIP 

10 bonds issued under this section, any remaining 

11 amounts in the TRIP Bonds Trust Account shall be 

12 available to pay the costs of any qualified project. 

13 ‘‘(5) APPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL LAW.—The 

14 requirements of any Federal law, including titles 23, 

15 40, and 49 of the United States Code, which would 

16 otherwise apply to projects to which the United 

17 States is a party or to funds made available under 

18 such law and projects assisted with those funds shall 

19 apply to— 

20 ‘‘(A) funds made available under the TRIP 

21 Bonds Trust Account for similar qualified 

22 projects, including contributions required under 

23 subsection (h), and 

24 ‘‘(B) similar qualified projects assisted 

25 through the use of such funds. 


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1 ‘‘(6) INVESTMENT.—Subject to subsections (e) 

2 and (f), it shall be the duty of the Secretary to in3 vest in investment grade obligations such portion of 

4 the TRIP Bonds Trust Account as is not, in the 

5 judgment of the Secretary, required to meet current 

6 withdrawals. To the maximum extent practicable, in7 vestments should be made in securities that support 

8 infrastructure investment at the State and local 

9 level. 

10 ‘‘(h) STATE CONTRIBUTION REQUIREMENTS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of subsection 

12 (a)(6), the State contribution requirement of this 

13 subsection is met with respect to any qualified 

14 project if the Secretary has received from 1 or more 

15 States, not later than the date of issuance of the 

16 bond, written commitments for matching contribu17 tions of not less than 20 percent (or such smaller 

18 percentage as determined under title 23, United 

19 States Code, for such State) of the cost of the quali20 fied project. 

21 ‘‘(2) STATE MATCHING CONTRIBUTIONS MAY

22 NOT INCLUDE FEDERAL FUNDS.—For purposes of 

23 this subsection, State matching contributions shall 

24 not be derived, directly or indirectly, from Federal 


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1 funds, including any transfers from the Highway 

2 Trust Fund under section 9503. 

3 ‘‘(i) UTILIZATION OF UPDATED CONSTRUCTION

4 TECHNOLOGY FOR QUALIFIED PROJECTS.—For purposes 

5 of subsection (a)(7), the requirement of this subsection is 

6 met if the appropriate State agency relating to the quali7 fied project is utilizing updated construction technologies. 

8 ‘‘(j) OTHER DEFINITIONS AND SPECIAL RULES.— 

9 For purposes of this section— 

10 ‘‘(1) STATE INFRASTRUCTURE BANK.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘State infra12 structure bank’ means a State infrastructure 

13 bank established under section 610 of title 23, 

14 United States Code, and includes a joint ven15 ture among 2 or more State infrastructure 

16 banks. 

17 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL AUTHORITY.—Notwith18 standing any other provision of law, a State in19 frastructure bank shall be authorized to per20 form any of the functions necessary to carry 

21 out the purposes of this section, including the 

22 making of direct grants to qualified projects 

23 from available project proceeds of TRIP bonds 

24 issued by such bank. 


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1 ‘‘(2) CREDITS MAY BE TRANSFERRED.—Noth2 ing in any law or rule of law shall be construed to 

3 limit the transferability of the credit or bond allowed 

4 by this section through sale and repurchase agree5 ments. 

6 ‘‘(3) PROHIBITION ON USE OF HIGHWAY TRUST

7 FUND.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 

8 no funds derived from the Highway Trust Fund es9 tablished under section 9503 shall be used to pay for 

10 credits under this section.’’. 

11 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

12 (1) Paragraph (1) of section 54A(d) of the In13 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 

14 (A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subpara15 graph (D), 

16 (B) by inserting ‘‘or’’ at the end of sub17 paragraph (E), 

18 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (E) 

19 the following new subparagraph: 

20 ‘‘(F) a TRIP bond,’’, and 

21 (D) by inserting ‘‘(paragraphs (3), (4), 

22 and (6), in the case of a TRIP bond)’’ after 

23 ‘‘and (6)’’. 

24 (2) Subparagraph (C) of section 54A(d)(2) of 

25 such Code is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end 


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1 of clause (iv), by striking the period at the end of 

2 clause (v) and inserting ‘‘, and’’, and by adding at 

3 the end the following new clause: 

4 ‘‘(vi) in the case of a TRIP bond, a 

5 purpose specified in section 54G(a)(1).’’. 

6 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

7 for subpart I of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of 

8 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding 

9 at the end the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 54G. TRIP bonds.’’. 

10 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

11 this section shall apply to bonds issued after the date of 

12 the enactment of this Act. 

13 SEC. 4. ADDITIONAL REVENUES THROUGH EXTENSION OF 

14 CUSTOMS USER FEES. 

15 Section 13031(j)(3) of the Consolidated Omnibus 

16 Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (19 U.S.C. 58c(j)(3)), 

17 as amended by the Omnibus Trade Act of 2010, is amend18 ed— 

19 (1) by striking ‘‘January 7, 2020’’ in subpara20 graph (A) and inserting ‘‘January 7, 2048’’, and 

21 (2) by striking ‘‘January 14, 2020’’ in subpara22 graph (B)(i) and inserting ‘‘January 14, 2048’’. 

Æ 


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