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DOT announces $17 billion expansion of transportation loan program
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Friday that the Obama administration will make $17 billion available for loans to construct transportation projects.
The loans are part of an expansion of the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) program in the recently approved $105 billion transportation bill. The transportation bill, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), included $1.7 billion for the TIFIA program over the next two years.
LaHood said Friday that the DOT was making $17 billion immediately, which he said would generate job growth in a stagnant U.S. economy.
"TIFIA offers flexible terms and gives many qualified, large-scale projects the extra boost they need to break ground and put people back to work," he said on a conference call with reporters. "This is a sign that in a time of fiscal austerity, we can still do big things."
"We're going to be looking for projects that are of national significance where folks are working together," he said. "I think we have done a pretty good job with TIFIA. Now we have more resources."
The new transportation bill, which took effect shortly after it was signed by President Obama, provides $750 million for the TIFIA program in 2013 and $1 billion in 2014.
LaHood said Friday that the expansion was the "largest infrastructure loan program in history."
