July 21, 2025–The National Association of Counties (NACo), an FDR-era organization founded in 1935, celebrated its 90th anniversary, July 11-14 in Philadelphia. The Coalition for a National Infrastructure Bank (NIB) intervened into the proceedings with an initiative for a National Infrastructure Bank. The Coalition had three organizers on the ground and a myriad of county legislators in support at the conference. The spearhead of the effort was a resolution in support of the Bank put forward by NACo’s Transportation Committee.
The NIB resolution urged Congress to enact legislation to create a $5 trillion National Infrastructure Bank. It would be capitalized by existing Treasury debt, and require no new federal appropriations or no new federal taxes. The Bank would be federally insured. The NIB would invest in states, cities, counties, and public authorities. It would not privatize public infrastructure but would keep public infrastructure in public hands. Counties would be the primary beneficiaries, as they own much of the nation’s infrastructure. Loans would be long-term, very low-interest, with flexible repayment, and for infrastructure projects.
The NIB would have a Trust Fund to give grants to poor communities. There is enough money to invest in every county in the nation, rural, and urban. The NIB would be run by a Board of Directors appointed by Congress, and composed of builders, engineers, and state, local, and county officials. The Bank would report regularly to Congress. The NIB would create over 20 million new high-wage jobs, increase the tax revenue base, and increase productivity.
After three days which included extensive debate on the NIB proposal, the full assembly of more than 1000 delegates supported the resolution unanimously.
This vote reflects the growing support for the NIB at the grassroots level. Supporters are actively seeking re-introduction of legislation to enact the Bank; during the last Congressional session, 48 Congressmen signed on to Rep. Danny Davis’s H.R. 4052. For a fuller picture of Coalition activity, readers can go to NIBCoalition.com.
Preparing for the Conference
The Coalition spent approximately three months contacting all members of the Transportation Committee and others in the lead-up to the conference. There are nearly 100 members on Transportation. Organizers held over a dozen Zoom calls with the most interested people and found excellent supporters within the leadership of the Committee.
Unlike Congress, the county commissioners are vitally concerned with the unmet infrastructure, jobs, and industrial needs of their jurisdictions. Counties own nearly 50% of the infrastructure in the nation, including roads, bridges, schools, drinking and waste water plants, and much more. They are very concerned about the ongoing infrastructure shortfall (projected to hit $4 trillion), and the financial and economic impacts of passage of the “Big Beautiful Bill.”
The latter will cut $1 trillion in Medicaid, and nearly $400 billion in food stamps and related programs. This will have a devastating impact on county budgets, and lead to potential hospital closures, and ricocheting cutbacks in state budgets. Add to this the expiration of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) next year.[1]
Add in that the federal budget is running persistent large deficits, and it is not even clear that there will be new money to disburse. The perilous nature of reauthorizing the BIL was lost on no attendee.
At the end of the day, everyone NIB organizers spoke with was openly asking where the heck the money is going to come from to maintain and upgrade their infrastructure. Frankly, they were nearly hysterical, and therefore intrigued by the NIB proposal.
Extensive Debate
The Transportation Committee met on Friday July 11. The issue of the NIB was raised in the morning session of the committee by a Pennsylvania commissioner, citing the context of the massive budget shortfalls and the need to find alternative funding mechanisms for infrastructure.
In the afternoon, the Committee discussed resolutions. The NIB resolution was last on the agenda and allocated about 5 minutes for discussion. But the discussion went on for more than 7 minutes, and resulted in a ringing endorsement of the NIB resolution, citing its applicability to all the county needs, in addition to transportation. Since the sponsor of the resolution came from Florida, she brought up the hurricane flooding and damage potential, and also noted the likelihood that FEMA would be severely cut back in the near future. The NIB is the perfect answer to the money dilemma, off-budget, large amount, and few strings attached.
Following the discussion, the chair asked for a motion to consider the resolution. Six to eight hands shot into the air, volunteering to move the resolution to discussion.
This was followed by a commissioner from Washington State, who gave a terrific off-the-cuff speech in favor of the NIB. He recounted his 40-year odyssey as a county elected official and his campaign to build infrastructure. He described all the funding schemes he and others had proposed to build the state. He heartily endorsed the NIB as the answer to his needs and urged its approval.
He was followed by a commissioner from Pennsylvania. He is a Republican and freaked out over the need for more funding for infrastructure. He saw the NIB as a crucial tool in the toolkit to address the infrastructure crisis. The commissioner outlined the various funding mechanisms usually available to county officials, but then explained how they were totally backed up. So he proposed that the states come up with a new lending facility, just to build the projects needed in Pennsylvania.
He was followed by a commissioner from Oregon, a Democrat, and a transportation expert for the entire state, who both backed the resolution and seconded the ideas of the previous speakers. He also said that the NIB would be a critical funding source amidst the budget cuts and projected federal shortfalls.
Then, a number of people asked questions, mostly about how the NIB works, how the historic precedents were implemented, and what the benefits would be. Some questions were skeptical, while others were seriously trying to figure out how the NIB would operate.
Then, a commissioner from Hawaii stood up and congratulated the sponsor and the other commissioners for presenting the NIB policy and the resolution. She said this would be a godsend to Hawaii. She wished she had known about it earlier, as it would have helped with their county and state approaches. She was just happy about the progress the NIB was making.
Finally, the resolution was put to a vote and passed with about 80% support. The meeting broke up, but groups of commissioners huddled with the NIB Team and discussed follow-up both with the committee and with their own councils.
Unanimous Passage
On Sunday July 12, the resolution was brought to the Board of Directors of the NACo meeting. It passed unanimously.
The same thing occurred on Monday when it was presented to all the delegates, who numbered over 1,000. Again, the vote in favor was unanimous. The resolution now becomes official NACo policy and can be referenced by elected officials and other bodies.
This activity demonstrates what is possible for the nation if Americans unite above party around positive solutions to the pressing needs of our citizens.
[1] Due to the fact that the BIL funneled money through the states, many counties were very unhappy with it. They had to compete with cities and each other for a piece of the pie. As a result, many of the small counties, which comprise the majority of the more than 3000 in the nation, were unable even to apply for the grants.
Tags: budget cuts, floods, infrastructure, National Association of Counties, National Infrastructure Bank, NIB Coalition