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[COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR]RESOLUTION NO. 241069
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Sponsor: Councilmember Melissa Patterson Hazley
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
RESOLUTION - Urging the United States Congress and the President to pass and sign legislation creating a National Infrastructure Bank; and directing the City’s lobbyists to send copies of this Resolution to state and national leaders.
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WHEREAS, the American Society of Civil Engineers (“ASCE”) stated in its 2021 report card that the United States received a grade of C- regarding the current state of infrastructure and that more than six trillion dollars would be needed to restore infrastructure to a state of good repair; and
WHEREAS, over three trillion dollars is currently not funded, the remainder is inadequately funded, and all new 21st-century projects are unfunded; and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, a great start, will only cover 10% of the needed infrastructure; and
WHEREAS, the ASCE gave the state of Missouri an overall grade of C- in its 2018 report card and dams were rated D-, energy D+, inland waterways D, levees D+, and roads D+ with twenty-three percent of the roads in poor condition with an annual cost of $700 per motorist; and
WHEREAS, twelve percent of Missouri’s bridges are structurally deficient and sixty-eight percent of dams in the state were graded High or Significant Hazard Potential; and
WHEREAS, the State of Missouri needs at least 128,000 new units of affordable housing for low-income families and renters, according to the Low Income Housing Coalition; and
WHEREAS, the Mid-America Regional Council data shows that the Kansas City region faces an affordable housing gap of almost 64,000 units for low-income renters; and
WHEREAS, the State of Missouri has at least 202,000 lead water service lines. Lead poisoning causes permanent cognitive impairment leading to increased violent behavior, crime and a decrease in the productivity of the workforce; and
WHEREAS, Kansas City has identified nearly $4.3 billion in infrastructure projects in urgent need of repair, including streets, sidewalks, and bridges; and
WHEREAS, according to the Federal Communications Commission, twenty percent of Missouri’s population doesn’t have access to high-speed internet and the state education department says one in five students does not have access to the internet at home; and
WHEREAS, Congress introduced HR 4052 to create a five trillion-dollar National Infrastructure Bank (“NIB”); and
WHEREAS, the NIB is modeled after previous banks which helped build much of our infrastructure under Presidents George Washington, James Madison, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin D. Roosevelt and the last such bank helped bring us out of the Depression and win World War II; and
WHEREAS, the new NIB will function like its predecessors and will be capitalized by privately held existing treasury debt. It will require no new federal appropriations and no new federal taxes; and
WHEREAS, the new NIB will invest five trillion dollars into infrastructure only and create twenty-five million new high-paying jobs paying Davis-Bacon wages and will include “Buy America” provisions; and
WHEREAS, disadvantaged businesses will be supported by the NIB and the NIB will mandate extensive minority hiring;
WHEREAS, the NIB has $100 billion allocated to replace all lead water service lines immediately, and $700 billion allocated to build all affordable housing units for the lowest 30% AMI; and
WHEREAS, the new NIB will grow the economy by five percent per year as its predecessors did; and
WHEREAS, many organizations are in support of the legislation, including: St. Louis County Council; National Black Caucus of State Legislators; National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators; National Asian-Pacific American Caucus of State Legislators. Dozens of city and county councils have endorsed the legislation including: Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, and many more, NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF KANSAS CITY:
Section 1. That the City Council of Kansas City hereby calls upon the United States Congress to pass HR 4052 to create a National Infrastructure Bank to finance urgently needed infrastructure projects.
Section 2. That the City’s federal affairs lobbyists at Platinum Advisors and state legislative affairs advisors at the Giddens Group and Stateline Strategies are directed to send copies of this resolution to the entire United States congressional delegation from Missouri, Governor-elect Mike Kehoe, and President-elect Donald J. Trump.
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