Barack Obama backed the proposed legislation in February 2008 and repeated his call in September 2010, although he did not provide specifics about how the Bank should operate.
According to Obama, the bank's "work will be determined by what will maximize our safety and security and ability to compete" and it would "create nearly two million new jobs", mainly in the construction industry.
It is expected to invest primarily in surface transport infrastructure, which is likely to include highways and mass transit.
"[9] According to the proposed legislation, the "Bank" would be administratively similar to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
[3] The revised bill "Makes the Bank's Board of Directors responsible for monitoring and overseeing energy, environmental, telecommunications, and transportation infrastructure projects.
Authorizes the Board to: (1) issue public benefit bonds and provide direct subsidies to infrastructure projects; (2) borrow on the global capital market and lend to entities and commercial banks for funding infrastructure projects; and (3) purchase, pool, and sell infrastructure-related loans and securities on such market.
Requires the Board to establish criteria for determining project eligibility for financial assistance under this Act.
[17] On January 17, 2019, Legislation H. R. 658 was introduced by Rep. Rosa DeLauro to establish the National Infrastructure Development Bank, which would have been a federal government corporation, and similar to previous proposals, its board of directors would have been appointed by the President in consultation with and approval of the Senate.