Senator Urges Extension of Build America Bonds Program

At a November 4 Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing on the nomination of Michael Mundaca to be assistant treasury secretary for tax policy, Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) urged extension of the Build America Bonds program set to expire in 2010.  Created in the Recovery Act, the Build America Bonds program is a new financing tool that allows states and local governments to obtain much-needed funding, at lower borrowing costs, for projects such as the construction of schools, hospitals, transportation infrastructure, and water and sewer upgrades.  Wyden asked Mundaca during the hearing whether he would support extending the program or some version of it. Since the program was launched in April, about $47 billion in bonds have been issued, according to Mundaca's response.  He agreed that the program has been "extraordinarily successful," adding that "it's too successful to allow it to simply go away."  Wyden, along with Senator John Thune (R-S.D.) have been champions of the Build America Bonds concept, and offered at the hearing that the transportation bill may be a legislative vehicle in which to expand the program.  AGC has called for the Build America Bonds program to be expanded and made permanent in its Build Now for the Future: A Blueprint for Economic Growth. For more information, contact Karen Lapsevic at (202) 547-4733 or lapsevick@agc.org.