Obama proposes $4bn for infrastructure bank

The budget plan for the next fiscal year also proposes to extend current funding outlays for massive transportation spending until March 2011.

The previous long-term program for spending on road and transit construction expired in 2009. Related projects are currently being funded through short-term budget extensions and billions of dollars in economic stimulus grants.

There has been little congressional interest for establishing a financing arm for infrastructure, which would be structured to attract private investment. But the Obama administration is mounting a new push as it seeks to change the way transportation construction and other projects are prioritized and funded.