[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 275 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 275

 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for tax-exempt 
    financing of private sector highway infrastructure construction.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            February 5, 1997

   Mr. Chafee (for himself, Mr. Warner, Mr. Moynihan, and Mr. Bond) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
                          Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for tax-exempt 
    financing of private sector highway infrastructure construction.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Highway Infrastructure Privatization 
Act''.

SEC. 2. TAX-EXEMPT FINANCING OF QUALIFIED HIGHWAY INFRASTRUCTURE 
              CONSTRUCTION.

    (a) Treatment as Exempt Facility Bond.--Subsection (a) of section 
142 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to exempt facility 
bond) is amended by striking ``or'' at the end of paragraph (11), by 
striking the period at the end of paragraph (12) and inserting ``, 
or'', and by adding at the end the following:
            ``(13) qualified highway infrastructure projects.''
    (b) Qualified Highway Infrastructure Projects.--Section 142 of such 
Code is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(k) Qualified Highway Infrastructure Projects.--
            ``(1) In general.--For purposes of subsection (a)(13), the 
        term `qualified highway infrastructure project' means a 
        project--
                    ``(A) for the construction or reconstruction of a 
                highway, and
                    ``(B) designated under paragraph (2) as an eligible 
                pilot project.
            ``(2) Eligible pilot project.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary of Transportation, 
                in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, 
                shall select not more than 15 highway infrastructure 
                projects to be pilot projects eligible for tax-exempt 
                financing.
                    ``(B) Eligibility criteria.--The Secretary of 
                Transportation shall establish criteria for the 
                selection of projects under subparagraph (A), except 
                that no project may be selected unless the project--
                            ``(i) serves the general public;
                            ``(ii) is necessary to evaluate the 
                        potential of the private sector's participation 
                        in the provision of the highway infrastructure 
                        of the United States;
                            ``(iii) is located on publicly owned 
                        rights-of-way;
                            ``(iv) is publicly owned or the ownership 
                        of the highway constructed or reconstructed 
                        under the project reverts to the public; and
                            ``(v) is consistent with a transportation 
                        plan developed pursuant to section 134(g) or 
                        135(e) of title 23, United States Code.
            ``(3) Aggregate face amount of tax-exempt financing.--
                    ``(A) In general.--An issue shall not be treated as 
                an issue described in subsection (a)(13) if the 
                aggregate face amount of bonds issued pursuant thereto 
                (when added to the aggregate face amount of bonds 
                previously so issued and outstanding) exceeds 
                $25,000,000,000.
                    ``(B) Allocation.--The Secretary of Transportation 
                shall allocate the amount described in subparagraph (A) 
                among the eligible pilot projects designated under 
                paragraph (2).
                    ``(C) Reallocation.--If any portion of an 
                allocation under subparagraph (B) is unused on the date 
                which is 3 years after such allocation, the Secretary 
                of Transportation may reallocate such portion among the 
                remaining eligible pilot projects.''
    (c) Exemption From General State Volume Caps.--Paragraph (3) of 
section 146(g) of such Code (relating to exception for certain bonds) 
is amended--
            (1) by striking ``or (12)'' and inserting ``(12), or 
        (13)'', and
            (2) by striking ``and environmental enhancements of 
        hydroelectric generating facilities'' and inserting 
        ``environmental enhancements of hydroelectric generating 
        facilities, and qualified highway infrastructure projects''.
    (d) Use of Proceeds for Land Acquisition Prohibited.--Subsection 
(c) of section 147 of such Code (relating to other requirements 
applicable to certain private activity bonds) is amended by adding at 
the end the following:
            ``(4) Qualified highway infrastructure project bonds may 
        not be used for land.--An exempt facility bond issued as a part 
        of an issue described in section 142(a)(13) (relating to 
        qualified highway infrastructure projects) shall not be treated 
        as a qualified bond if any portion of the net proceeds are to 
        be used (directly or indirectly) for the acquisition of land 
        (or any interest therein).''
    (e) Report.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than the earlier of--
                    (A) one year after either one-half of the projects 
                authorized under section 142(k) of the Internal Revenue 
                Code of 1986 have been identified or one-half of the 
                total bonds allowable for such projects under such 
                section have been issued, or
                    (B) seven years after the date of the enactment of 
                this Act,
        the Secretary of Transportation, in consultation with the 
        Secretary of the Treasury, shall submit to the Committees on 
        Finance and Environment and Public Works of the Senate and the 
        Committees on Ways and Means and Transportation and 
        Infrastructure of the House of Representatives the report 
        described in paragraph (2).
            (2) Contents.--The report under paragraph (1) shall 
        evaluate the overall success of the program conducted pursuant 
        to the amendments made by this Act, including--
                    (A) a description of each project,
                    (B) the extent to which such projects used new 
                technologies, construction techniques, or innovative 
                cost controls which resulted in savings in building the 
                project, and
                    (C) the use and efficiency of the Federal tax 
                subsidy provided by the bond financing.
    (f) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to bonds issued after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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