HB 2417 Summary

• Establishes a new funding mechanism for state, county, city, and town transportation infrastructure projects through banks creating money instead of using taxation or bonding.

• Requires governmental agencies to submit project documentation to the state treasurer, who assigns a project number and arranges funding with participating banks proportional to their capital and surplus.

• Banks create money equal to their assigned share of project bid values and electronically transfer funds to the state treasurer, who then distributes payment to contractors as directed by the sponsoring governmental agency.

• Exempts banks from reserve requirements for money created under this chapter and classifies noncompliance or fraud as a felony with penalties up to $100 million in fines or 40 years imprisonment.

• Mandates a pilot project to test the procedures within 90 days of enactment, with the first full project to be a light rail transit system, and requires ongoing public accounting through monthly audits by the auditor general.