Move America Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1508 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for Move America bonds and Move America credits. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 5, 2019 Mr. BLUMENAUER (for himself and Mrs. WALORSKI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means A BILL To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for Move America bonds and Move America credits. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Move America Act of 4 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find- 7 ings: 8 (1) Our Nation’s infrastructure network serves 9 as a foundation of our economic competitiveness and 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1508.IH H1508 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 1508 IH national security. It is imperative that Congress 1 maintain and revitalize the roads, bridges, ports, 2 railways, airports, transit systems, water systems, 3 and information networks of this country, enabling 4 all industries to achieve the growth and productivity 5 that make the United States strong and prosperous. 6 (2) Investing in transportation, water, and in- 7 formation infrastructure creates long-term capital 8 assets for the Nation that will improve economic 9 productivity. 10 (3) Investment in infrastructure creates jobs 11 and spurs economic activity to put people back to 12 work and grow the economy. 13 (4) The cost to maintain and improve our Na- 14 tion’s highways, bridges, and other critical transpor- 15 tation infrastructure significantly exceeds what is 16 currently being provided by all levels of government. 17 (5) Investment in our Nation’s infrastructure 18 must be multi-faceted, both by ensuring that there 19 is a sustainable long-term funding source for infra- 20 structure and through using innovative financing 21 mechanisms. 22 (6) Areas that are underserved by modern 23 broadband connections are disadvantaged, and en- 24 suring that those areas are connected will enable the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1508.IH H1508 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 1508 IH Nation to benefit from the fuller participation of 1 previously underserved citizens in the national econ- 2 omy. 3 (7) Investment in infrastructure is needed 4 throughout the Nation, and it is essential that infra- 5 structure legislation, including but not limited to 6 this legislation, benefit urban and rural areas, and 7 large and small States. 8 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to provide 9 tools to finance additional transportation, water, and in- 10 formation infrastructure capital investments, through an 11 approach that provides assistance for financing of infra- 12 structure to all States, rural and urban, and large and 13 small. 14 SEC. 3. MOVE AMERICA BONDS. 15 (a) IN GENERAL.— 16 (1) MOVE AMERICA BONDS.—Subpart A of part 17 IV of subchapter B of chapter 1 of the Internal Rev- 18 enue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after 19 section 142 the following new section: 20 ‘‘SEC. 142A. MOVE AMERICA BONDS. 21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 22 ‘‘(1) TREATMENT AS EXEMPT FACILITY 23 BOND.—Except as otherwise provided in this section, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1508.IH H1508 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 1508 IH a Move America bond shall be treated for purposes 1 of this part as an exempt facility bond. 2 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.— 3 ‘‘(A) NO GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP RE- 4 QUIREMENT.—Paragraph (1) of section 142(b) 5 shall not apply to any Move America bond. 6 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULES FOR HIGH-SPEED 7 RAIL BONDS.—Paragraphs (2) and (3) of sec- 8 tion 142(i) shall not apply to any Move America 9 bond described in subsection (b)(6). 10 ‘‘(C) SPECIAL RULES FOR HIGHWAY AND 11 SURFACE TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES.—Para- 12 graphs (2), (3), and (4) of section 142(m) shall 13 not apply to any Move America bond described 14 in subsection (b)(7). 15 ‘‘(b) MOVE AMERICA BOND.—For purposes of this 16 part, the term ‘Move America bond’ means any bond 17 issued as part of an issue 95 percent or more of the net 18 proceeds of which are used to provide— 19 ‘‘(1) airports, 20 ‘‘(2) docks and wharves, including— 21 ‘‘(A) waterborne mooring infrastructure, 22 ‘‘(B) dredging in connection with a dock or 23 wharf, and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1508.IH H1508 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 1508 IH ‘‘(C) any associated rail and road infra- 1 structure for the purpose of integrating modes 2 of transportation, 3 ‘‘(3) mass commuting facilities, 4 ‘‘(4) facilities for the furnishing of water (with- 5 in the meaning of section 142(e)), 6 ‘‘(5) sewage facilities, 7 ‘‘(6) railroads (as defined in section 20102 of 8 title 49, United States Code) and any associated rail 9 and road infrastructure for the purpose of inte- 10 grating modes of transportation, 11 ‘‘(7) any— 12 ‘‘(A) surface transportation project which 13 is eligible for Federal assistance under title 23, 14 United States Code (as in effect on the date of 15 the enactment of this section), 16 ‘‘(B) project for an international bridge or 17 tunnel for which an international entity author- 18 ized under Federal or State law is responsible 19 and which is eligible for Federal assistance 20 under title 23, United States Code (as so in ef- 21 fect), or 22 ‘‘(C) facility for the transfer of freight 23 from truck to rail or rail to truck (including 24 any temporary storage facilities directly related 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1508.IH H1508 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 1508 IH to such transfers) which is eligible for Federal 1 assistance under either title 23 or title 49, 2 United States Code (as so in effect), 3 ‘‘(8) flood diversions, 4 ‘‘(9) inland waterways, including construction 5 and rehabilitation expenditures for navigation on 6 any inland or intracoastal waterways of the United 7 States (within the meaning of section 4042(d)(2)), 8 or 9 ‘‘(10) rural broadband service infrastructure. 10 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 11 ‘‘(1) FLOOD DIVERSIONS.—The term ‘flood di- 12 version’ means any flood damage risk reduction 13 project authorized under any Act for authorizing 14 water resources development projects. 15 ‘‘(2) RURAL BROADBAND SERVICE INFRASTRUC- 16 TURE.—The term ‘rural broadband service infra- 17 structure’ means the construction, improvement, or 18 acquisition of facilities and equipment for the provi- 19 sion of broadband services (as defined in section 601 20 of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936) which— 21 ‘‘(A) meet the minimum requirements in 22 effect under section 601(e) of such Act, and 23 ‘‘(B) will be provided in an area which— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1508.IH H1508 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 1508 IH ‘‘(i) is a rural area (as defined in sec- 1 tion 601 of such Act), and 2 ‘‘(ii) meets the requirements of 3 clauses (i) and (ii) of section 601(d)(2)(A) 4 of such Act. 5 ‘‘(d) MOVE AMERICA VOLUME CAP.— 6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The aggregate face amount 7 of Move America bonds issued pursuant to an issue, 8 when added to the aggregate face amount of Move 9 America bonds previously issued by the issuing au- 10 thority during the calendar year, shall not exceed 11 such issuing authority’s Move America volume cap 12 for such year. 13 ‘‘(2) MOVE AMERICA VOLUME CAP.—For pur- 14 poses of this subsection— 15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Move America 16 volume cap for any calendar year is an amount 17 equal to 50 percent of the State ceiling under 18 section 146(d) for such State for such calendar 19 year. 20 ‘‘(B) ALLOCATION OF VOLUME CAP.—Each 21 State may allocate the Move America volume 22 cap of such State among governmental units (or 23 other authorities) in such State having author- 24 ity to issue private activity bonds. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1508.IH H1508 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 1508 IH ‘‘(3) CARRYFORWARDS.— 1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If— 2 ‘‘(i) an issuing authority’s Move 3 America volume cap, exceeds 4 ‘‘(ii) the aggregate amount of Move 5 America bonds issued during such calendar 6 year by such authority, 7 any Move America bond issued by such author- 8 ity during the 5-calendar-year period following 9 such calendar year shall not be taken into ac- 10 count under paragraph (1) to the extent the 11 amount of such bonds does not exceed the 12 amount of such excess. Any excesses arising 13 under this paragraph shall be used under this 14 paragraph in the order of calendar years in 15 which the excesses arose. 16 ‘‘(B) REALLOCATION OF UNUSED 17 CARRYFORWARDS.— 18 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Move Amer- 19 ica volume cap under paragraph (2)(A) for 20 any State for any calendar year shall be 21 increased by any amount allocated to such 22 State by the Secretary under clause (ii). 23 ‘‘(ii) REALLOCATION.—The Secretary 24 shall allocate to each qualified State for 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1508.IH H1508 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 1508 IH any calendar year an amount which bears 1 the same ratio to the aggregate unused 2 carryforward amounts of all issuing au- 3 thorities in all States for such calendar 4 year as the qualified State’s population for 5 the calendar year bears to the population 6 of all qualified States for the calendar 7 year. For purposes of the preceding sen- 8 tence, population shall be determined in 9 accordance with section 146(j). 10 ‘‘(iii) QUALIFIED STATE.—For pur- 11 poses of this subparagraph, the term 12 ‘qualified State’ means, with respect to a 13 calendar year, any State— 14 ‘‘(I) which allocated its entire 15 Move America volume cap for the pre- 16 ceding calendar year, and 17 ‘‘(II) for which a request is made 18 (not later than May 1 of the calendar 19 year) to receive an allocation under 20 clause (ii). 21 ‘‘(iv) UNUSED CARRYFORWARD 22 AMOUNT.—For purposes of this paragraph, 23 the term ‘unused carryforward amount’ 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1508.IH H1508 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 1508 IH means, with respect to any issuing author- 1 ity for any calendar year, the excess of— 2 ‘‘(I) the amount of the excess de- 3 scribed in subparagraph (A) for the 4 sixth preceding calendar year, over 5 ‘‘(II) the amount of bonds issued 6 by such issuing authority to which 7 subparagraph (A) applied during the 8 5 preceding calendar years. 9 ‘‘(4) FACILITY MUST BE LOCATED WITHIN 10 STATE.— 11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—No portion of the 12 Move America volume cap of an issuing author- 13 ity for any calendar year may be used with re- 14 spect to financing for a facility located outside 15 of the authority’s State. 16 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN FACILITIES 17 WHERE STATE WILL GET PROPORTIONATE 18 SHARE OF BENEFIT.—Subparagraph (A) shall 19 not apply to any Move America bond the pro- 20 ceeds of which are used to provide a facility de- 21 scribed in paragraph (4) or (5) of subsection 22 (b) if the issuer establishes that the State’s 23 share of the use of the facility will equal or ex- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1508.IH H1508 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 1508 IH ceed the State’s share of the private activity 1 bonds issued to finance the facility. 2 ‘‘(e) APPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN FEDERAL LAWS.— 3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An issue shall not be treat- 4 ed as an issue under subsection (b) unless the facil- 5 ity for which the proceeds of such issue are used 6 meets the requirements applicable to construction, 7 alteration or repair of similar facilities under any 8 Federal law that would apply if the facility were 9 funded or financed under any other Federal program 10 (including under titles 23, 40, and 49, United States 11 Code) which would otherwise apply to similar facili- 12 ties. 13 ‘‘(2) PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION CAPITAL 14 PROJECTS.—In addition to the requirements of 15 paragraph (1), an issue the proceeds of which are 16 used to finance a capital project (as defined in sec- 17 tion 5302(3) of title 49, United States Code) relat- 18 ing to public transportation (as defined in section 19 5302(14) of such title) shall not be treated as an 20 issue under subsection (b) unless such project com- 21 plies with the requirements of chapter 53 of title 49, 22 United States Code. 23 ‘‘(f) SPECIAL RULE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDI- 24 ATION COSTS FOR DOCKS AND WHARVES.—For purposes 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1508.IH H1508 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •HR 1508 IH of this section, amounts used for working capital expendi- 1 tures relating to environmental remediation required 2 under State or Federal law at or near a facility described 3 in subsection (b)(2) (including environmental remediation 4 in the riverbed and land within or adjacent to the Federal 5 navigation channel used to access such facility) shall be 6 treated as an amount used to provide for such a facility. 7 ‘‘(g) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall prescribe 8 such regulations as may be necessary to carry out the pur- 9 poses of this section, including regulations requiring 10 States to report the amount of Move America volume cap 11 of the State carried forward for any calendar year under 12 subsection (d)(3).’’. 13 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of 14 sections for subpart A of part IV of subchapter B 15 of chapter 1 of such Code is amended by inserting 16 after the item relating to section 142 the following 17 new item: 18 ‘‘Sec. 142A. Move America bonds.’’. (b) APPLICATION OF OTHER PRIVATE ACTIVITY 19 BOND RULES.— 20 (1) TREATMENT UNDER PRIVATE ACTIVITY 21 BOND VOLUME CAP.—Subsection (g) of section 146 22 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by 23 striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph (3), by strik- 24 ing the period at the end of paragraph (4) and in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1508.IH H1508 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 13 •HR 1508 IH serting ‘‘, and’’, and by inserting after paragraph 1 ( [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]