Infrastructure Spending and the District (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
Dec. 13, 2024 |
| Report Number |
IF12849 |
| Report Type |
In Focus |
| Authors |
Lisa S. Benson; Lynn J. Cunningham; Elena H. Humphreys; William J. Mallett; Anna E. Normand |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
The federal government invests in many types of physical
infrastructure that are, with the exception of federal water
resource projects, predominantly owned by state and local
governments or privately owned. The federal government
invests in infrastructure in four main ways: (1) direct
spending on federally owned and operated infrastructure
(e.g., federal dams); (2) grants to nonfederal entities,
particularly state and local governments (e.g., grants to
public transit agencies); (3) loans to nonfederal entities
(e.g., loans to sponsors of major highway projects); and (4)
tax preferences that forgo federal revenue to provide
incentives for nonfederal investment in infrastructure (e.g.,
tax-preferred municipal bonds used to finance sewers).
Members of Congress may wish to guide federal funding to
local infrastructure projects or serve as a conduit to connect
constituents to federal funding sources. One of the most
direct ways for Members to influence funding is through
what are often called “earmarks” (known in the House as
Community Project Funding [CPF] and in the Senate as
Congressionally Directed Spending [CDS]). Earmarks
generally are understood as congressionally directed
spending that benefits a specific entity or locality other than
through a competitive or internal agency selection process.
The House and Senate Appropriations Committees typically
designate which federal programs or accounts, if any, will
be eligible for such funding during the annual
appropriations process. Members submitting requests for
projects in their districts may have to meet certain
disclosure requirements, such as a certification that the
Member has no financial interest in the project. Members
also may, among other approaches, submit letters of
support, participate in stakeholder meetings, and raise
awareness of competitive project opportunities and criteria.
This In Focus discusses ways in which Members can have a
role in allocating federal resources through mechanisms
that fund rural development, surface transportation,
drinking water and wastewater, and federal water resource
projects. The final section discusses information resources
for grant opportunities and awards.
