President Barack Obama has called for the creation of a National Infrastructure Bank. The intention: To create a structure so public works projects could be, according to the President while campaigning last year, “determined not by politics, but by what will maximize our safety and homeland security; what will keep our environment clean and our economy strong.” Still, it is unclear how a National Infrastructure Bank would function -- or even be established.

Blueprint America looks at the possibility of the Bank -- both the design and implementation of -- in interviews with Felix Rohatyn, author of Bold Endeavors: How our government built America, and why it must rebuild now, and Stan Hazelroth, Executive Director of the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank. Additionally, a breakdown of the progress of the National Infrastructure Bank so far.

Some $120 billion will be spent on infrastructure as a part of the $787 billion economic stimulus package passed by Congress. The establishment of a National Infrastructure Bank was not included in the final recovery plan. As a result, other than an overall stimulus in infrastructure spending by the federal government, the funding practices for public works projects – largely for highways and mass transit – remain the same. Still, it is not yet clear how a National Infrastructure Bank would function.

A breakdown of the progress of the National Infrastructure Bank so far

President Barack Obama has called for the creation of a National Infrastructure Bank. The intention: To create a structure so public works projects could be, according to the President while campaigning last year, “determined not by politics, but by what will maximize our safety and homeland security; what will keep our environment clean and our economy strong.” Still, it is unclear how a National Infrastructure Bank would function -- or even be established. Felix Rohatyn, author of Bold Endeavors: How our government built America, and why it must rebuild now, on the future of infrastructure investment in the United States.