The other nine states are Arizona, California, Florida, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, and Virginia. At a press conference on June 19, Vice President Gore and Secretary of Transportation Rodney Slater announced that 29 additional states would be approved to establish SIBs. Five other states have been given conditional approval, pending the adoption of enabling legislation at the state level. These states are Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. By giving officials a new, more flexible source of funding to tap, SIBs will help vital transportation projects move off the drawing boards and into development.
SIBs begin with an infusion of federal funds and a matching non-federal contribution.
States can deposit up to 10 percent of most of their FY 1996 and FY 1997 federal-aid highway apportionments into their SIB highway accounts. States can also deposit up to 10 percent of federal transit funds for FY 1996 and FY 1997 into a SIB transit account. Each state matches federal capitalization funds with at least 20 percent of the total deposit. SIB funds can be used to provide low-interest loans or to enhance credit and improve the affordability of loans from other sources. When projects are completed, funds are paid back into the SIB through revenues generated by the project.