One Utah lawmaker thinks private investment is the cure for funding Utah’s infrastructure needs.
Senate Majority Whip Stuart Adams, R-Layton, is pushing a resolution encouraging Congress to allow states to create for-profit corporations which would then use private investments for infrastructure projects. SJR13 asks Congress to allow states to take the steps necessary to create these “citizen’s equity funds.”
“There’s so much money sitting overseas, this would allow much of it to come back for our infrastructure,” says Adams. “We have a hard time funding transit, roads, and other needs.”
Stuart wants Congress to allow states to create a “citizens equity fund,” which would establish a for-profit company with a board of directors appointed by the governor and confirmed by the legislature. The governor would serve as the chairman of the board.
This hybrid public/private company would use private investment money for infrastructure projects. Investors would earn dividends on their investments. The corporation could also issue bonds to encourage investment by companies and private citizens.
Adams sees the creation of these private corporations as a way to lure overseas money from American corporations back to our shores, noting the aggregated profits of multinational companies sitting outside our borders is more than $2 trillion. That money could go a long way toward fixing America’s crumbling infrastructure.
“The only other alternative to this is creating more taxes, which would be an economic drag on the state,” says Adams.
