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Witnesses tell committee a national infrastructure bank could finance Maryland bridges, create jobs
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Summary
HJ 2 urges Congress to create a $5 trillion National Infrastructure Bank; witnesses said such a bank would finance large projects and create millions of jobs, and suggested a regional East Coast bank if a federal option stalls.
Delegate Wu presented House Joint Resolution 2 urging support for the National Infrastructure Bank (NIB), a proposed $5 trillion public financing institution to underwrite major infrastructure projects nationwide.
"This resolution urged the US Congress to pass the National Infrastructure Bank Act, which would create a $5,000,000,000,000 bank to help finance infrastructure projects," Delegate Wu said, describing the bill as nonbinding support for federal action and offering a regional East Coast alternative if necessary.
Witnesses described the NIB as a tool to address bridge and port backlogs and generate jobs. Angela Vullo said support for the policy is growing and claimed it would create "20,000,000 high wage jobs." Stuart Rosenblatt and Alfeka Mutarde, representing the Coalition for National Infrastructure Bank, highlighted federal funding shortfalls and argued a bank could finance the Key Bridge, Bay Bridge and other major projects when federal appropriations are insufficient.
Committee members did not take a recorded vote; witnesses asked the committee to refer the resolution favorably to signal Maryland—ongressional delegation support.
What happens next: The resolution remains in committee; sponsors requested referral to the full House to urge Maryland's congressional delegation to back federal legislation creating a national bank.
