Florida Senate - 2024                                    SM 1536
       
       
        
       By Senator Torres
       
       
       
       
       
       25-00698-24                                           20241536__
    1                           Senate Memorial                         
    2         A memorial to the Congress of the United States,
    3         urging Congress to pass H.R. 490, which creates a
    4         Federal Infrastructure Bank to finance urgently needed
    5         infrastructure projects in this state and across the
    6         nation.
    7  
    8         WHEREAS, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave the
    9  United States a grade of C- in its 2021 Report Card for
   10  America’s Infrastructure and reported that investments of more
   11  than $5.9 trillion would be needed through 2029 to restore the
   12  nation’s infrastructure to good condition, yet current
   13  investments only total $3.35 trillion, leaving approximately
   14  $2.5 trillion in needed investments over the next 6 years to
   15  bridge that gap, and
   16         WHEREAS, 13 percent of Florida’s roads are in poor
   17  condition, causing Florida drivers to spend roughly $425 per
   18  year to maintain their vehicles in good working order, and 15
   19  percent of Florida’s bridges are at least 50 years old, with 2.9
   20  percent of this state’s bridges rated as structurally deficient,
   21  and
   22         WHEREAS, Florida has serious water infrastructure problems,
   23  and this state’s drinking water needs are estimated to total
   24  $21.9 billion, wastewater needs are estimated to total $18.4
   25  billion, and stormwater management needs are estimated to total
   26  $1.1 billion, and
   27         WHEREAS, the National Low Income Housing Coalition reports
   28  a shortage of 384,743 affordable rental dwellings available for
   29  extremely low-income renters, and Florida International
   30  University, in its report titled “Miami’s Housing Affordability
   31  Crisis,” has documented that 3 out of every 5 employed adult
   32  residents of Greater Miami spend more than 30 percent of their
   33  income on housing, which is the highest rate of any large
   34  metropolitan area in the nation, and
   35         WHEREAS, on January 24, 2023, H.R. 490, the Federal
   36  Infrastructure Bank Act of 2023, was introduced in Congress and
   37  would create a new infrastructure bank to invest in
   38  infrastructure projects, and
   39         WHEREAS, the Federal Infrastructure Bank Act of 2023 would
   40  provide equity investments, direct loans, indirect loans, and
   41  loan guarantees to eligible entities for the planning,
   42  predevelopment, design, construction, operation, or maintenance
   43  of the nation’s revenue-producing infrastructure projects, with
   44  sufficient revenue sources and guarantees to support the
   45  interest and principal payments of the bank, and
   46         WHEREAS, the Federal Infrastructure Bank Act of 2023 would
   47  create a partnership between the Federal Government and state,
   48  county, and local governments to help finance Florida’s
   49  infrastructure needs, and
   50         WHEREAS, the Federal Infrastructure Bank Act of 2023 would
   51  build infrastructure, create jobs in rural and urban
   52  communities, help reduce poverty, bring broadband connectivity
   53  into every area of this state, regardless of cost, help states
   54  fix roads not maintained by the United States Department of
   55  Transportation, and finance new rail lines, including high speed
   56  rail, connecting Florida to the rest of the nation, and
   57         WHEREAS, the Federal Infrastructure Bank is modeled on
   58  previous banks that helped build much of this nation’s
   59  infrastructure under Presidents George Washington, James
   60  Madison, Abraham Lincoln, and, more recently, Franklin D.
   61  Roosevelt, who helped to bring this nation out of the Great
   62  Depression and win World War II, and
   63         WHEREAS, the Federal Infrastructure Bank Act of 2023 would
   64  enable people who lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic
   65  to be trained and hired for jobs to build this necessary
   66  infrastructure, NOW, THEREFORE,
   67  
   68  Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   69  
   70         That the Congress of the United States is urged to pass
   71  H.R. 490, the Federal Infrastructure Bank Act of 2023, to create
   72  a Federal Infrastructure Bank to finance urgently needed
   73  infrastructure projects in this state and across the nation.
   74         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State dispatch
   75  copies of this memorial to the President of the United States,
   76  to the President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of
   77  the United States House of Representatives, and to each member
   78  of the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.