Yesterday, President Obama announced a major Build America initiative to increase infrastructure investment and economic growth.  The Build America initiative also establishes the Build America Transportation Investment Center (BATIC) to be housed at the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).  As envisioned, BATIC would provide local and state governments a one-stop shop for innovative financing resources and private sector partnership opportunities to support transportation infrastructure.  The Build America initiative also establishes the Build America Interagency Working Group, a joint effort between U.S. Department of the Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx, to address barriers to private sector infrastructure investments in a variety of industries including water, energy, communications, and ports and harbors.  Lastly, as part of the Build America initiative the Treasury Department will host an infrastructure investment summit for federal, state and local officials on September 9, 2014 in an effort to discuss innovative infrastructure financing solutions and infrastructure investment opportunities. 

Detailed information on this Build America Investment Initiative is available on the White House Fact Sheet, accessed here.  RCRC will be taking a closer look at the Build America initiative over the coming weeks and provide additional information as it becomes available.

For additional information on federal issues, please contact RCRC Legislative Analyst Randall Echevarria at (916) 447-4806 or rechevarria@rcrcnet.org.