Bipartisan legislation introduced in the House of Representatives on October 16 would reform the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) to allow communities to finance water infrastructure projects through a combination of WIFIA loans and tax-exempt debt such as municipal bonds. AMWA and other water sector organizations quickly backed the bill and asked Congress to pass it as soon as possible.
Sponsored by Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.), the “WIFIA Improvement Act" (H.R. 3756) would simply eliminate a line in the WIFIA statute that prohibits communities from using tax-exempt debt to help finance projects that also receive WIFIA loans. Because WIFIA may generally only finance up to 49 percent of a project’s total cost, the restriction on the use of tax-exempt debt has prompted doubts about how useful WIFIA will be once funding becomes available.
In a statement on the bill, Rep. Curbelo called the measure “a common sense fix” that “will encourage investment and create jobs.” The measure had attracted 12 cosponsors as of October 26, representing both Democratic and Republican lawmakers.
In an October 19 letter, AMWA and other organizations that support WIFIA offered a strong endorsement of H.R. 3756, saying the bill would “position WIFIA as an attractive option to help communities across the country affordably finance major water infrastructure projects.”
H.R. 3756 is nearly identical to a WIFIA fix approved by the Senate in July as part of a larger transportation policy bill (H.R. 22). A House-Senate conference committee is expected to convene in November to work out final transportation legislation, and AMWA plans to urge lawmakers to include the WIFIA provision in the final version of the bill.