Sponsors (4)
The bill increases federal budget transparency and consistent accounting for WIFIA loans—helping utilities and governments plan financing—but makes credit costs appear larger on-budget, which could reduce WIFIA lending capacity and slow infrastructure projects.
Utilities, project sponsors, and local governments will get clearer, more consistent federal budget treatment of WIFIA assistance, reducing accounting uncertainty and making it easier to plan and structure project financing.
State and local governments receiving WIFIA assistance will have those loans recorded as direct loans/guarantees on the federal budget, improving transparency about federal credit exposure and risk.
Stricter on‑budget scoring could force agencies to approve fewer or smaller WIFIA loans if budget caps or risk limits tighten, slowing or cancelling water and infrastructure projects for local communities.
Taxpayers could see higher apparent federal credit costs because WIFIA loans are scored as direct loans/guarantees, which may make federal costs look larger and could crowd out other spending priorities.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Treats certain WIFIA financial assistance to non‑Federal borrowers as non‑Federal for budget purposes and requires that such assistance be accounted for as a direct loan or loan guarantee under the Federal Credit Reform Act. The change applies when the borrower is a non‑Federal entity and the dedicated repayment sources are non‑Federal revenue sources; it does not alter program eligibility, funding amounts, or create new deadlines.
Introduced April 28, 2025 by Jim Costa · Last progress April 28, 2025