Last week, Rep. Jimmy Duncan (R-TN) and Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) introduced H.R.4237, legislation to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide that the volume cap for private activity bonds (PAB) not apply to bonds for facilities for furnishing of water and sewage facilities. Rep. Duncan is currently chairman of the Public Private Partnership panel of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. He has been a cosponsor of the water PAB legislation since 2005. Lifting the cap on PAB’s for water infrastructure is estimated to leverage $50 billion in private capital investment, create 1.4 million jobs, and add $101.5 billion in tax revenue to federal, state and local governments. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that $682 billion in infrastructure improvements are needed during the next 20 years in order to meet safe drinking water and sanitation standards.

In the Senate, PAB champions Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Michael Crapo (R-ID) circulated a "Dear Colleague" letter to seek support for a Senate PAB bill prior to bill introduction. They plan to reintroduce S.939 from last Congress in the coming weeks. NRMCA will work with the Sustainable Water Infrastructure Coalition to help advance this important piece of legislation.

Click here to read Representative Duncan's news release. For more information contact Elizabeth Fox at efox@nrmca.org or 240-485-1156.