April 14 2021- State Senator Tom Begich introduced a resolution calling on the US Congress to enact HR 6422 and create a National Infrastructure Bank. Here is some of the language from that Resolution:

"WHEREAS 31 of over 280 rural communities in the state do not have centralized water or wastewater systems, requiring residents to haul water and ice from rivers and lakes and use outhouses, "honey buckets," and sewage lagoons for disposal of solid waste; and

WHEREAS the cost of installing and repairing water and wastewater systems in the state is estimated to be $1,500,000,000; and

WHEREAS the Port of Anchorage, which receives 85 percent of all consumer goods entering the state, lacks funding needed for an essential modernization project; and

WHEREAS the inability of the state to finance a deep-water port in the Arctic will deprive the state's economy of the coming benefits of expanded northern trade routes and development in the region; and

WHEREAS the state lacks sufficient infrastructure to house its residents, with the official estimate by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development of persons experiencing housing insecurity in the state reaching 1,949 in 2020, including 1,725 persons living in shelters and 224 living outdoors at that time; and

WHEREAS, according to the Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness, in January 2020, the official number of persons experiencing homelessness in Anchorage was 1,058, including 1,003 persons living in shelters and 55 living outdoors at that time; and

WHEREAS Anchorage is currently in need of 1,695 more housing units for rapid rehousing and 700 housing units for permanent supportive housing; and

WHEREAS, in 2019, approximately 7,900 people in Anchorage sought some form of assistance because of homelessness, up from 7,763 in the previous year; and     

WHEREAS a new national infrastructure bank, working in partnership with state and local governments, could finance many of the projects needed in the state, including infrastructure for broadband transmission, affordable housing units, railroad facilities, and..."