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California, Oregon, Washington and British
Columbia have combined to form the West Coast Infrastructure Exchange (WCX). The
partnership is being launched to develop innovative new methods to finance and
facilitate development of the infrastructure needed to improve the region’s
economic competitiveness, support jobs and families, and enhance our shared
quality of life.
“In the coming decades, California,
Oregon, Washington and British Columbia will need to invest an estimated $1
trillion to improve their roads, rail, power grids, and other infrastructure.
With state budgets tight and with less financing from the federal government,
private finance is going to be required in order to meet these needs. By
establishing a center of expertise to provide technical assistance, set
standards and provide investment information, and simultaneously advancing new
mechanisms for project finance with the potential to attract private investors,
we’re creating the space for institutional investors to get involved in a big
way. The leaders of these states are committed to realizing the potential of the
Exchange, promoting near-term job creation and long-term economic
competitiveness by accessing private capital. The Rockefeller Foundation is
proud to continue to support them in that effort.” “We all know that the time to invest in
American infrastructure is now, and the establishment of the West Coast
Infrastructure Exchange sets down a marker that says these states won’t wait to
be told how to rebuild for the future they need. They understand the cost for
failure to act is almost impossible to consider, so they are joining forces to
line up the best ideas, the best practices, and the smartest ways to raise and
spend the funds they need and to get started now. I strongly support this effort
and I intend to help the new Exchange build a national, “bottom-up”
infrastructure network to help get the job done.” “The West Coast Infrastructure Exchange
will fill a critical void by spurring infrastructure sector innovation and
related investment information, best practices, regional alignment and learning
across a wide range of interested institutions, investors and stakeholders who
share similar infrastructure goals but are working under different mandates,
timelines and constraints. This new approach to infrastructure financing would
also represent an important potential shift by state and local governments by
adding the infrastructure development tools of project finance, risk transfer,
and other budgetary efficiencies along with new sources of repayment to their
traditional commitment to status quo financing mechanisms." “The traditional source of public
infrastructure financing – tax exempt financing – is inadequate to meet the
infrastructure need.” Allan Emkin, "There is nothing more important right now
than investing in America. By focusing on nation-building at home, the West
Coast Infrastructure Exchange will put Americans back to work and set us on the
path to building a resilient America. This historic initiative will make us
stronger, reignite our ability to lead and innovate, and ultimately power our
productivity. A strong and sustainable America is a prosperous America.” "We are interested in the vision for the
West Coast Infrastructure Exchange, particularly its goal to explore effective
models for government to engage in true partnerships with infrastructure
investment firms like ours. "We look forward to active participation
in the Exchange, especially in the development of business standards that will
build upon the Province’s work that has governed more than $10 billion in
infrastructure projects in the last decade." Sarah Clark “Workers in the US and Canada want to see
more of their pension funds put safely to work at home, helping rebuild our
domestic infrastructure, expand our economy, and rebuild the middle class by
creating new and lasting jobs. To keep the promise of retirement security for a
new generation of workers, our pension funds need the strong and reliable
long-term returns that investable infrastructure can deliver, but until now,
institutional investors have had a hard time finding attractive infrastructure
investment opportunities in North America. SEIU supports the establishment of
the West Coast Infrastructure Exchange (WCX), which promises to bridge the gap
between investors and domestic infrastructure needs while protecting the
interests of working people and our environment.” Mary Kay Henry "In its work on transportation policy over
the last several years the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) has consistently
emphasized the need for fundamental reform of national transportation policy, so
that it is characterized by clearly articulated goals, performance management,
outcomes, and accountability. In addition, BPC has noted that states and
metropolitan regions are likely to bear a greater portion of the responsibility
to invest in transportation infrastructure in the next several years. In that
context, BPC has recommended that federal policy should incentivize and reward
those states that demonstrate innovation and flexibility, in developing new
sources of funding and new financing tools for infrastructure investment. WCX,
as a multi-state infrastructure investment fund, demonstrates a potentially
important financing innovation for essential infrastructure projects. We are
also pleased to see a mechanism like the WCX which will help bring states and
regions together to plan, prioritize and finance critical infrastructure
projects." |
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