http://www.infrastructurist.com/2009/12/09/how-would-a-national-infrastructure-bank-work-an-interview-with-pa-gov-ed-rendell/

(EXCERPT) Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell is a good friend to infrastructure. As the co-chair of the Building America’s Future coalition, he’s been a staunch advocate for increased infrastructure spending as well as the creation of a National Infrastructure Bank (NIB), a public-private partnership agency tasked with evaluating and financing the nation’s largest projects. The NIB has been strongly supported by the White House, as well as many political groups and private organizations. Like other federal banks, it would start with a modest amount of federal money to provide secure credit at low rates, and leverage the private funds needed for long-term investment.

The governor kindly agreed to answer our questions about the bank, and his plans for it.

Infrastructurist: First off, any reactions to the president’s call for increased spending on long-term infrastructure?

Rendell: We think its great — we’ve lobbied hard on this issue, and I spoke with the White House on Friday to make sure infrastructure was a key component to the jobs bill, and now we see that it is one of the three key areas the president discussed. We have the capacity to do $100 billion worth of projects, if you count water and sewer and transportation broadband.  Also, we’re very pleased that the president essentially endorsed the NIB. He offered support for merit-based infrastructure investment that leverages federal dollars, allowing projects to be selected on merit. The NIB is the only vehicle that could do all those things and is merit-based. So we’re very excited about that. We think this is a great opportunity to get increased infrastructure spending for major projects.

I: So how would the NIB be structured? Who would be charged with oversight?

R: We think it can’t be part of the Department of Transportation [as was originally suggested by a June bill introduced by the House transportation committee chairman, calling for creation of the NIB as part of the DOT, governed and monitored by an office in the Federal Highway Administration] because it has to include waste water, levies, school construction, and more. So if it is placed in any government agency, it would be better placed  in the treasury, though it could also be a standalone organization with general oversight by Congress and the administration, or by an independent board — and we would approve either of those oversight models. It’s gotta be more than just transportation.