I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7231 

To establish the Infrastructure Bank for America as a corporation to serve 

as a lender for and investor in infrastructure projects, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 15, 2020 

Mr. WEBSTER of Florida (for himself, Mr. MEUSER, Mr. REED, and Mr. 

LAMALFA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committees on Financial Services, and Ways and Means, for a period to be 

subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 

of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To establish the Infrastructure Bank for America as a corporation to serve as a lender for and investor in infrastructure projects, 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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Infrastructure Bank 

5 for America Act of 2020’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE BANK 

2 HOLDING COMPANY. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established a corporation 

4 to be known as the ‘‘Infrastructure Bank Holding Com5 pany’’ (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Holding Com6 pany’’), which shall be the parent company of the Infra7 structure Bank for America established under section 3. 

8 (b) BOARD OF DIRECTORS.—The Holding Company 

9 shall have a Board of Directors, which shall— 

10 (1) initially consist of 7 members, or such other 

11 number as the formation agent determines appro12 priate; 

13 (2) be elected by the shareholders of the Hold14 ing Company; 

15 (3) within the limitations of law and regulation, 

16 determine the general policies that govern the oper17 ations of the Holding Company, and have the power 

18 to adopt, amend, and repeal bylaws governing the 

19 performance of the powers and duties granted to or 

20 imposed upon the Holding Company by law; and 

21 (4) select and effect the appointment of quali22 fied persons to fill the office of the Chief Executive 

23 Officer and such other offices as may be provided 

24 for in the bylaws of the Holding Company and the 

25 Infrastructure Bank for America established under 

26 section 3. 


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1 (c) TREATMENT OF SHAREHOLDERS OF THE FORMA2 TION AGENT.—The formation agent shall issue equity se3 curities of the Holding Company to each shareholder of 

4 the formation agent, in an amount that the formation 

5 agent determines has a value equal to the value of equity 

6 securities of the formation agent held by such shareholder 

7 upon the establishment of the Holding Company. 

8 (d) EARNINGS AND RESERVES NOT GOVERNMENT

9 FUNDS.—The earnings and reserves of the Holding Com10 pany shall be the sole property of the Holding Company 

11 and may not be construed to be Government funds, public 

12 funds, or appropriated money. 

13 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE BANK 

14 FOR AMERICA. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The formation agent shall estab16 lish a corporation to be known as the ‘‘Infrastructure 

17 Bank for America’’ (in this Act referred to as the 

18 ‘‘Bank’’). The Bank shall— 

19 (1) maintain its principle office in New York 

20 City or the District of Columbia; and 

21 (2) be registered as a Delaware corporation, 

22 and, for the purposes of jurisdiction and venue in 

23 civil actions, operate as a Delaware corporation. 

24 (b) DUTIES OF THE FORMATION AGENT.—At the 

25 earliest practicable date after the date of the enactment 


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1 of this Act, the formation agent shall make and file with 

2 the Secretary of the Treasury (in this Act referred to as 

3 the ‘‘Secretary’’) an organization certificate for the Bank 

4 in accordance with such rules and regulations as the Sec5 retary may prescribe. 

6 (c) REGIONAL OFFICES.—The Bank shall establish 

7 regional offices for the purpose of focusing on infrastruc8 ture projects in different areas of the Unites States. 

9 (d) BOARD OF DIRECTORS.—The Board of Directors 

10 of the Holding Company established under section 2(b) 

11 shall be the initial Board of Directors of the Bank. 

12 SEC. 4. FUNCTIONS OF THE BANK. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Bank shall provide— 

14 (1) equity investments, direct loans, indirect 

15 loans, and loan guarantees for the construction or 

16 maintenance of revenue-producing infrastructure 

17 projects in the United States with sufficient revenue 

18 sources and guarantees to support the interest and 

19 principal payments to the Bank; and 

20 (2) direct and indirect loans and loan guaran21 tees to State and local governments and State infra22 structure banks for the construction or maintenance 

23 of infrastructure projects. 

24 (b) SUPPORT FOR RURAL PROJECTS.—At least 7 

25 percent of the dollar amount of loans, equity investments, 


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1 and loan guarantees provided by the Bank shall be with 

2 respect to infrastructure projects in rural areas. 

3 (c) NO COMMERCIAL OR INVESTMENT BANKING AC4 TIVITIES.—The Bank shall not accept customer deposits 

5 nor engage in financial or investment banking activities 

6 such as trust management or underwriting securities. 

7 (d) PLEDGE AND CREDIT FACILITIES.— 

8 (1) PLEDGE.—The Bank shall have the author9 ity to pledge its loans to the discount window of the 

10 Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. 

11 (2) PURCHASE OF OBLIGATIONS.—The Sec12 retary may, subject to amounts provided in advance 

13 by appropriation Acts, purchase obligations issued 

14 by the Bank in the same manner and under the 

15 same requirements that the Secretary purchases ob16 ligations under section 306(c) of the Federal Home 

17 Loan Mortgage Corporation Act (12 U.S.C. 

18 1455(c)). 

19 (e) LEVERAGE LIMITATION.—The Bank shall seek to 

20 maintain risk-based capital at no less than 10 percent. 

21 SEC. 5. HOLDING COMPANY SECURITIES. 

22 (a) EQUITY SECURITIES.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Holding Company shall 

24 issue such equity securities as the Holding Company 

25 determines appropriate. 


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1 (2) DIVIDENDS.—The Holding Company may 

2 make such dividend payments on the equity securi3 ties of the Holding Company as the Holding Com4 pany determines appropriate. 

5 (3) INITIAL ISSUANCE AMOUNT.—The Holding 

6 Company shall have the goal of raising 

7 $1,000,000,000 in the initial issuance of equity se8 curities in a private placement and up to 

9 $100,000,000,000 or more of equity securities in 

10 public offerings over time, the purpose of which is 

11 to fund the Bank. 

12 (4) RESTRICTION ON VOTING RIGHTS.—Any 

13 holder of an equity security of the Holding Company 

14 that is a non-U.S. individual or entity shall have no 

15 voting rights with respect to such equity security. 

16 (b) BONDS.— 

17 (1) STANDARD BONDS.—The Holding Company 

18 may issue standard bonds with maturities up to 30 

19 years or longer, as needed. 

20 (2) OTHER BONDS.—The Holding Company 

21 may issue such other bonds, notes, and marketable 

22 securities with maturities and interest rates as the 

23 Holding Company determines appropriate. 

24 (3) INITIAL ISSUANCE AMOUNT.—The Holding 

25 Company shall have the goal of making initial bond 


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1 sales in a private placement in an aggregate amount 

2 of $10,000,000,000 and in public offerings in an 

3 amount of $1,000,000,000,000 or more over time. 

4 (4) OVERSIGHT AND AUTHORITY TO PURCHASE

5 BONDS.— 

6 (A) APPROVAL REQUIRED.—Before issuing 

7 any bonds, the Holding Company shall submit 

8 a proposal for such bond issuance to the Sec9 retary, and the Holding Company may only 

10 issue such bonds if the Secretary approves the 

11 proposal. 

12 (B) AUTHORITY TO PURCHASE BONDS.— 

13 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary and 

14 the Board of Governors of the Federal Re15 serve System may purchase bonds issued 

16 under this subsection. 

17 (ii) LIMITATION.—The aggregate 

18 amount of outstanding bonds purchased by 

19 the Secretary under this subparagraph 

20 may not exceed 5 percent of the total 

21 amount of the outstanding bonds of the 

22 Holding Company. 

23 (5) LEVERAGE LIMITATION.—The Holding 

24 Company shall seek to maintain risk-based capital at 

25 no less than 10 percent. 


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1 (c) INVESTMENT LIMITATION ON NON-U.S. INDIVID2 UALS AND ENTITIES.—Notwithstanding any other provi3 sion of law— 

4 (1) non-U.S. individuals and entities may not 

5 hold more than 25 percent, in the aggregate, of the 

6 equity securities and bonds of the Holding Company; 

7 and 

8 (2) nothing in this section shall prevent non9 U.S. individuals and entities that are shareholders 

10 from receiving equity shares and dividend payments. 

11 SEC. 6. OVERSIGHT AND REGULATION. 

12 (a) BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE FEDERAL RE13 SERVE SYSTEM.—The Board of Governors of the Federal 

14 Reserve System shall have oversight and supervisory au15 thority over the Holding Company and the Bank in order 

16 to ensure the safe and sound operation of the Holding 

17 Company and the Bank. 

18 (b) SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY.—The Secretary 

19 shall oversee and supervise the issuance of bonds by the 

20 Holding Company and the Bank, in order to ensure the 

21 safe and sound financing of the Holding Company and the 

22 Bank. 

23 (c) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall consult 

24 with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Sys25 tem and may consult with the Secretary of Transportation 


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1 and any other head of Federal agency when carrying out 

2 the Secretary’s duties under this Act. 

3 SEC. 7. INFRASTRUCTURE GUARANTEE FUND. 

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Bank shall establish an 

5 Infrastructure Guarantee Fund that shall be available for 

6 State and local governments and other persons who wish 

7 to deposit funds to be used with respect to specific loans 

8 or loan guarantees made by the Bank in the event of any 

9 non-payment by the recipient of such loan or loan guar10 antee. 

11 (b) RETURN OF FUNDS.—Any funds described under 

12 subsection (a) that are remaining at the time such loans 

13 or guaranteed loans are repaid in full shall be returned 

14 to the State or local government or other person who de15 posited the funds. 

16 SEC. 8. HOLDING COMPANY AND BANK EXEMPTION FROM 

17 TAXATION. 

18 Effective for taxable years ending on or after the date 

19 of enactment of this Act, the Holding Company and the 

20 Bank, including franchises, capital, reserves, surplus, ad21 vances, and income of the Holding Company or Bank shall 

22 be exempt from all taxation imposed by the United States, 

23 by any territory, dependency, or possession thereof, or by 

24 any State, county, municipal, or local taxing authority, ex25 cept that any real property of the Holding Company and 


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1 the Bank shall be subject to State, territorial, county, mu2 nicipal, or local taxation to the same extent according to 

3 its value as other real property is taxed. 

4 SEC. 9. INFRASTRUCTURE BANK HOLDING COMPANY CRED5 IT. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of sub7 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

8 1986 is amended— 

9 (1) by adding at the end the following new sec10 tion: 

11 ‘‘SEC. 45U. INFRASTRUCTURE BANK HOLDING COMPANY 

12 CREDIT. 

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of section 38, in 

14 the case of a taxpayer who holds a qualified Holding Com15 pany equity investment on a credit allowance date of such 

16 investment which occurs during the taxable year, the In17 frastructure Bank Holding Company credit determined 

18 under this section for such taxable year is an amount 

19 equal to 10 percent of the amount paid to the Holding 

20 Company for such investment at its original issue. 

21 ‘‘(b) CREDIT ALLOWANCE DATE.—For purposes of 

22 this section, the credit allowance date with respect to any 

23 qualified Holding Company equity investment is— 

24 ‘‘(1) the date on which such investment is ini25 tially made; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) each of the 4 anniversary dates of such 

2 date thereafter. 

3 ‘‘(c) QUALIFIED HOLDING COMPANY EQUITY IN4 VESTMENT.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘quali5 fied Holding Company equity investment’ means any eq6 uity investment originally issued by the Holding Company 

7 to the taxpayer under section 5(a)(1) of the Infrastructure 

8 Bank for America Act of 2020 not later than 3 years after 

9 the date of the enactment of such Act. 

10 ‘‘(d) HOLDING COMPANY.—For purposes of this sec11 tion, the term ‘Holding Company’ means the Infrastruc12 ture Bank Holding Company established by the Infra13 structure Bank for America Act of 2020. 

14 ‘‘(e) BASIS REDUCTION.—The basis of any qualified 

15 Holding Company equity investment shall be reduced by 

16 the amount of any credit determined under this section 

17 with respect to such investment.’’; and 

18 (2) in the table of contents for such subpart, by 

19 adding at the end the following: 

‘‘45U. Infrastructure Bank Holding Company credit.’’. 

20 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

21 (1) Section 38(b) of such Code is amended by 

22 striking ‘‘plus’’ at the end of paragraph (32), by 

23 striking the period at the end of paragraph (33) and 

24 inserting ‘‘, plus’’, and by adding at the end the fol25 lowing new paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(34) the Infrastructure Bank Holding Com2 pany credit determined under section 45U.’’. 

3 (2) Section 1016(a) of such Code is amended 

4 by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph (37), by 

5 striking the period at the end of paragraph (38) and 

6 inserting ‘‘, and’’, and by adding at the end the fol7 lowing new paragraph: 

8 ‘‘(39) to the extent provided in section 

9 45U(e).’’. 

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

11 this section shall apply to taxable years ending after the 

12 date of the enactment of this Act. 

13 SEC. 10. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

14 Nothing in this Act may be construed as authorizing 

15 the Federal Government to guarantee the assets of the 

16 Bank or Holding Company. 

17 SEC. 11. DEFINITIONS. 

18 For the purposes of this Act: 

19 (1) BANK.—The term ‘‘Bank’’ means the Infra20 structure Bank for America established under sec21 tion 3. 

22 (2) FORMATION AGENT.—The term ‘‘formation 

23 agent’’ means an entity selected by the Secretary of 

24 the Treasury with significant experience in infra25 structure and infrastructure finance. 


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1 (3) HOLDING COMPANY.—The term ‘‘Holding 

2 Company’’ means the Infrastructure Bank Holding 

3 Company established under section 2. 

4 (4) REVENUE-PRODUCING INFRASTRUCTURE

5 PROJECT.—The term ‘‘revenue-producing infrastruc6 ture project’’ means an infrastructure project that, 

7 when complete, generates revenue from user fees or 

8 other sources. 

9 (5) RISK-BASED CAPITAL.—The term ‘‘risk10 based capital’’ shall have the meaning given that 

11 term by the Board of Governors of the Federal Re12 serve System. 

13 (6) RURAL.—The term ‘‘rural’’ means a county 

14 that is neither in a metropolitan statistical area nor 

15 in a micropolitan statistical area that is adjacent to 

16 a metropolitan statistical area, as those terms are 

17 defined by the Office of Management and Budget 

18 and as applied under currently applicable Urban In19 fluence Codes, established by the Economic Research 

20 Service of the Department of Agriculture. 

21 (7) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

22 the several States, the District of Columbia, each 

23 territory or possession of the United States, and 

24 each federally recognized Indian Tribe. 


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1 (8) STATE INFRASTRUCTURE BANK.—The term 

2 ‘‘State infrastructure bank’’ means a State infra3 structure bank or multi-State infrastructure bank 

4 established pursuant to— 

5 (A) section 350 of the National Highway 

6 System Designation Act of 1995; 

7 (B) section 1511(l) of the Transportation 

8 Equity Act for the 21st Century; 

9 (C) section 610 of title 23, United States 

10 Code; or 

11 (D) any State law as an agency, compo12 nent unit, or other governmental entity of the 

13 State. 

Æ 


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