II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1250 

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 27, 2013 

Mr. WYDEN (for himself and Mr. HOEVEN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Transportation and 

5 Regional Infrastructure Project Bonds Act of 2013’’ or 

6 ‘‘TRIP Bonds Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

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

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

4 railroads, ports, and inland waterways drive our 

5 economy, enabling all industries to achieve growth 

6 and productivity that makes America strong and 

7 prosperous. 

8 (2) The establishment, maintenance, and im9 provement of the national transportation network is 

10 a national priority, for economic, environmental, en11 ergy, security, and other reasons. 

12 (3) The ability to move people and goods is crit13 ical to maintaining State, metropolitan, rural, and 

14 local economies. 

15 (4) The construction of infrastructure requires 

16 combining skills from numerous occupations, includ17 ing those in the contracting, engineering, planning 

18 and design, materials supply, manufacturing, dis19 tribution, and safety industries. 

20 (5) Investing in transportation infrastructure 

21 creates long-term capital assets for the Nation that 

22 will help the United States address its enormous in23 frastructure needs and improve its economic produc24 tivity. 


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1 (6) Investment in transportation infrastructure 

2 creates jobs and spurs economic activity to put peo3 ple back to work and stimulate the economy. 

4 (7) Every billion dollars in transportation in5 vestment has the potential to create up to 30,000 

6 jobs. 

7 (8) Every dollar invested in the Nation’s trans8 portation infrastructure yields at least $5.70 in eco9 nomic benefits because of reduced delays, improved 

10 safety, and reduced vehicle operating costs. 

11 (9) Numerous experts have noted that the esti12 mated cost to maintain and improve our Nation’s 

13 highways, bridges, and other critical transportation 

14 infrastructure significantly exceeds what is currently 

15 being provided by all levels of government. 

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

17 financing for additional transportation infrastructure cap18 ital investments. 

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

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart I of part IV of sub21 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

22 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

23 section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 54G. TRIP BONDS. 

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

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

4 issue if— 

5 ‘‘(1) 100 percent of the available project pro6 ceeds of such issue are to be used for expenditures 

7 incurred after the date of the enactment of this sec8 tion for 1 or more qualified projects pursuant to an 

9 allocation of such proceeds to such project or 

10 projects by a State infrastructure bank, 

11 ‘‘(2) the bond is issued by or for the benefit of 

12 a State infrastructure bank and is in registered form 

13 (within the meaning of section 149(a)), 

14 ‘‘(3) the State infrastructure bank designates 

15 such bond for purposes of this section, 

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

17 such issue does not exceed 30 years, 

18 ‘‘(5) the issue meets the requirements of sub19 section (e), 

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

21 the State meets the State contribution requirement 

22 of subsection (h), as in effect on the date of 

23 issuance, and 

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

25 State meets the requirement described in subsection 

26 (i). 


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

2 section— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified project’ 

4 means a capital transportation infrastructure project 

5 of any governmental unit or other person, including 

6 roads, bridges, rail and transit systems, ports, and 

7 inland waterways proposed and approved by a State 

8 infrastructure bank, but does not include costs of 

9 operations or maintenance with respect to such 

10 project. 

11 ‘‘(2) CERTAIN PROJECTS.—Such term also in12 cludes any flood damage risk reduction project with 

13 a completed Report of the Chief of Engineers, with 

14 the proceeds of issued bonds available for a State to 

15 provide to the United States Army Corps of Engi16 neers (under section 5 of the Act entitled ‘An Act 

17 authorizing the construction of certain public works 

18 on rivers and harbors for flood control, and for other 

19 purposes,’ approved June 22, 1936 (33 U.S.C. 

20 701h)) funds in excess of any required non-Federal 

21 cost share for such project. 

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

23 54A(b)(3), for purposes of section 54A(b)(2), the applica24 ble credit rate with respect to an issue under this section 

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


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

2 comparable-term corporate debt obligations (determined 

3 in such manner as the Secretary prescribes). 

4 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION ON AMOUNT OF BONDS DES5 IGNATED.— 

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

7 face amount of bonds which may be designated 

8 under subsection (a) by any State infrastructure 

9 bank shall not exceed the TRIP bond limitation 

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

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

12 is a TRIP bond limitation amount for each calendar 

13 year. Such limitation amount is— 

14 ‘‘(A) $5,000,000,000 for 2014, 

15 ‘‘(B) $5,000,000,000 for 2015, 

16 ‘‘(C) $10,000,000,000 for 2016, 

17 ‘‘(D) $10,000,000,000 for 2017, 

18 ‘‘(E) $10,000,000,000 for 2018, 

19 ‘‘(F) $10,000,000,000 for 2019, and 

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

21 zero thereafter. 

22 ‘‘(3) ALLOCATIONS TO STATES.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The TRIP bond limi24 tation amount for each calendar year shall be 

25 allocated by the Secretary among the States 


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1 such that each State is allocated 2 percent of 

2 such amount. 

3 ‘‘(B) RETURN OF UNUSED ALLOCA4 TIONS.—Any allocation to a State under sub5 paragraph (A) which remains unused on the 

6 last day of the calendar year for which the allo7 cation was made shall be relinquished by the 

8 State and reallocated by the Secretary propor9 tionally among participating States. 

10 ‘‘(4) CARRYOVER OF UNUSED ISSUANCE LIMI11 TATION.—If for any calendar year the TRIP bond 

12 limitation amount under paragraph (2) exceeds the 

13 amount of TRIP bonds issued during such year, 

14 such excess shall be carried forward to 1 or more 

15 succeeding calendar years as an addition to the 

16 TRIP bond limitation amount under paragraph (2) 

17 for such succeeding calendar year and until used by 

18 issuance of TRIP bonds. 

19 ‘‘(e) SPECIAL RULES RELATING TO EXPENDI20 TURES.— 

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

22 meeting the requirements of this subsection if, as of 

23 the date of issuance, the State infrastructure bank 

24 reasonably expects— 


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

2 project proceeds of such issue are to be spent 

3 for 1 or more qualified projects within the 5- 

4 year expenditure period beginning on such date, 

5 ‘‘(B) within the 12-month period beginning 

6 on such date, to incur a binding commitment 

7 with a third party for such third party— 

8 ‘‘(i) to spend at least 10 percent of 

9 the proceeds of such issue within the 12- 

10 month period following the date of entering 

11 into such commitment, or 

12 ‘‘(ii) to commence construction within 

13 the 12-month period following the date of 

14 entering into such commitment with re15 spect to any qualified project or combina16 tion of qualified projects the costs of which 

17 account for at least 10 percent of the pro18 ceeds of such issue, and 

19 ‘‘(C) to proceed with due diligence to com20 plete such projects and to spend the proceeds of 

21 such issue. 

22 ‘‘(2) RULES REGARDING CONTINUING COMPLI23 ANCE AFTER 5-YEAR DETERMINATION.—To the ex24 tent that less than 100 percent of the available 

25 project proceeds of such issue are expended by the 


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1 close of the 5-year expenditure period beginning on 

2 the date of issuance, the State infrastructure bank 

3 shall redeem all of the nonqualified bonds within 90 

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

5 this paragraph, the amount of the nonqualified 

6 bonds required to be redeemed shall be determined 

7 in the same manner as under section 142. 

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

9 CESSATION OF COMPLIANCE.—If any bond which when 

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

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

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

13 amount equal to the sum of— 

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

15 under section 54A with respect to such bond (deter16 mined without regard to section 54A(c)) for taxable 

17 years ending during the calendar year in which such 

18 cessation occurs and each succeeding calendar year 

19 ending with the calendar year in which such bond is 

20 redeemed by the bank, and 

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

22 section 6621 on the amount determined under para23 graph (1) for each calendar year for the period be24 ginning on the first day of such calendar year. 

25 ‘‘(g) TRIP BONDS TRUST ACCOUNTS.— 


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

2 shall be held in a TRIP Bonds Trust Account (in3 cluding 1 or more subaccounts) by each State infra4 structure bank: 

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

6 bonds issued by or for the benefit of such bank 

7 under this section. 

8 ‘‘(B) The amounts described in subsection 

9 (h). 

10 ‘‘(C) Any earnings on any amounts de11 scribed in subparagraph (A) or (B). 

12 ‘‘(2) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts in each TRIP 

13 Bonds Trust Account may be used only to pay costs 

14 of qualified projects, pay interest (if any) on TRIP 

15 bonds, and redeem TRIP bonds, except that 

16 amounts withdrawn from the TRIP Bonds Trust Ac17 count to pay costs of qualified projects may not ex18 ceed the proceeds from the sale of TRIP bonds de19 scribed in subsection (a)(1). 

20 ‘‘(3) USE OF REMAINING FUNDS IN TRIP BONDS

21 TRUST ACCOUNT.—Upon the redemption of all TRIP 

22 bonds issued by the State infrastructure bank under 

23 this section, any remaining amounts in the TRIP 

24 Bonds Trust Account held by such bank shall be 


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1 available to pay the costs of any qualified project in 

2 such State. 

3 ‘‘(4) APPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL LAW.—The 

4 requirements of any Federal law, including titles 23, 

5 40, and 49 of the United States Code, which would 

6 otherwise apply to projects to which the United 

7 States is a party or to funds made available under 

8 such law and projects assisted with those funds shall 

9 apply to— 

10 ‘‘(A) funds made available under each 

11 TRIP Bonds Trust Account for similar quali12 fied projects, other than contributions required 

13 under subsection (h), and 

14 ‘‘(B) similar qualified projects assisted 

15 through the use of such funds. 

16 ‘‘(5) INVESTMENT.—Subject to subsections (e) 

17 and (f), it shall be the duty of the State infrastruc18 ture bank to invest in investment grade obligations 

19 such portion of the TRIP Bonds Trust Account held 

20 by such Bank as is not, in the judgment of such 

21 bank, required to meet current withdrawals. To the 

22 extent cost-effective, investments should be made in 

23 securities that support infrastructure investment at 

24 the State and local level. 

25 ‘‘(h) STATE CONTRIBUTION REQUIREMENTS.— 


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

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

3 subsection is met if the State infrastructure bank 

4 has obtained a commitment, not later than the date 

5 of issuance of the bond, for deposit into the TRIP 

6 Bonds Trust Account equal annual installments suf7 ficient, together with earnings thereon, to repay the 

8 principal of the TRIP bond at maturity. 

9 ‘‘(2) STATE CONTRIBUTIONS MAY NOT INCLUDE

10 FEDERAL FUNDS.—For purposes of this subsection, 

11 State contributions shall not be derived, directly or 

12 indirectly, from Federal funds, including any trans13 fers from the Highway Trust Fund under section 

14 9503. 

15 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS IN LIEU OF ANY OTHER

16 MATCHING CONTRIBUTION REQUIREMENTS.—For 

17 purposes of subsection (g)(4), the TRIP bond pro18 ceeds may be applied toward any State matching 

19 contribution requirement under any other Federal 

20 law. 

21 ‘‘(i) UTILIZATION OF UPDATED CONSTRUCTION

22 TECHNOLOGY FOR QUALIFIED PROJECTS.—For purposes 

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

24 met if the appropriate State agency relating to the quali25 fied project is utilizing updated construction technologies. 


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

2 For purposes of this section— 

3 ‘‘(1) STATE INFRASTRUCTURE BANK.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘State infra5 structure bank’ means a State infrastructure 

6 bank established under section 610 of title 23, 

7 United States Code, and includes a joint ven8 ture among 2 or more State infrastructure 

9 banks. Such term also includes, with respect to 

10 any State that has not established a State in11 frastructure bank prior to the date of the enact12 ment of this section, the State Department of 

13 Transportation of such State, or such other 

14 public instrumentality designated by the State 

15 to issue bonds under this section. 

16 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL AUTHORITY.—Notwith17 standing any other provision of law, a State in18 frastructure bank shall be authorized to per19 form any of the functions necessary to carry 

20 out the purposes of this section, including the 

21 making of direct grants to qualified projects 

22 from available project proceeds of TRIP bonds 

23 issued by such bank. 

24 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITION ON USE OF HIGHWAY TRUST

25 FUND.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 


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1 no funds derived from the Highway Trust Fund es2 tablished under section 9503 shall be used to pay for 

3 credits under this section.’’. 

4 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

5 (1) Paragraph (1) of section 54A(d) of the In6 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 

7 (A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subpara8 graph (D), 

9 (B) by inserting ‘‘or’’ at the end of sub10 paragraph (E), 

11 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (E) 

12 the following new subparagraph: 

13 ‘‘(F) a TRIP bond,’’, and 

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

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

16 ‘‘and (6)’’. 

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

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

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

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

21 the end the following new clause: 

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

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

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

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


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1 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding 

2 at the end the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 54G. TRIP bonds.’’. 

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

4 this Act shall apply to bonds issued after December 31, 

5 2013. 

Æ 


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