The creation of a National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank was first proposed by United States Senator Christopher J. Dodd and Senator Chuck Hagel in 2007. However, several other iterations of a National Infrastructure Bank have been proposed and considered and it is likely that implementing legislation for the Bank will look quite different from that which was proposed in the original legislation.
Barack Obama backed the proposed legislation in February 2008 and repeated his call in September 2010, although he did not provide specifics about how the Bank should operate. In 2008, Obama suggested that the Bank would borrow US$60 billion of federal funding to invest in infrastructure over 10 years, while leveraging "up to $500 billion" of private investment. It would invest in high-speed trains to provide an alternative to air travel, energy efficiency, and clean energy, among other kinds of public infrastructure. According to Obama, the Bank's "work will be determined by what will maximize our safety and security and ability to compete" and it would "create nearly two million new jobs", mainly in the construction industry. According to the text of the proposed legislation, funding for the bank would be taken from borrowed funds not to exceed one percent.
The Bank would complement existing federal programs to fund infrastructure, such as the Highway Trust Fund or State Revolving Funds. It is expected to invest primarily in surface transport infrastructure, which is likely to include highways and mass transit. Obama did not mention investments in water supply and sanitation as an area of activity for the new Bank. The American Water Works Association (AWWA) estimates that investment in water supply and sanitation in the United States will have to be "over $250 billion above current levels of spending in the next 20 to 30 years" to replace aging infrastructure. The original version of the bill expired with the 110th Congress; a different version of the bill was introduced into the 112th Congress by U.S. Representative Rosa L. DeLauro (D - Connecticut 3rd District) as H.R. 402.
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