1. Borrowing authorization article is developed by town officials (apart from a citizens’ petition), reviewed by the various committees and Selectmen, and placed on the town meeting warrant by the Selectmen.


2. The article is brought before town meeting.


3. Town meeting approves the article by at least a 2/3rds vote.


4. The adopted article is shown to bond counsel.


5. Bond counsel certifies that the approval process met all regulations and certifies the tax-exempt status of the bond.


6. Town treasurer prepares an official statement and notice of sale, announcing that the town wants to borrow X amount of dollars and will take bids on a certain date.


7. The bids are received.


8. The Selectmen award the bonds by voting to approve the sale and accept the rate of the lowest bidder. As part of the awarding process, the bond counsel attaches a legal opinion. This opinion is accompanied by form 8038-G, "Information Return for Tax-Exempt Government Obligation", which tells the US Treasury that the town has issued debt. By law the Treasury receives all the details of communities financial affairs.


9. The bonds are issued, with the stated interest rate, maturity date, and special terms, if any. This is done electronically.


10. Settlement: The money from the purchaser of the bonds comes into the town’s account.


11. Funds in hand, the town proceeds with the project.


12. If the money isn’t spent on schedule (in essence quickly enough), the town is liable for a penalty to the U.S. Treasury pays a penalty to the government. This is in order to keep towns from borrowing for the purpose of investing the fund themselves, rather than for the purpose of building.

1. Borrowing authorization article is developed by town officials (apart from a citizens’ petition), reviewed by the various committees and Selectmen, and placed on the town meeting warrant by the Selectmen.


2. The article is brought before town meeting.


3. Town meeting approves the article by at least a 2/3rds vote.


4. State and Federal representatives are instructed to introduce legislation, directing the US Treasury to issue an “interest-free” loan to the community for its selected public works project.


5. The legislation to be introduced will state essentially as follows:

Note:

i) the process will be refined in discussion with state and congressional representatives;

ii) this act shall in no way be construed to limit the rights and abilities of counties and municipalities to at any time (as they may now) offer bonds, borrow from banks, or otherwise seek private sources of funding.

For those who grasp the import of this legislation, we suggest that its additional and necessary administration will be offset, vastly, by the benefits of funding our public infrastructure publicly, as opposed to with private funds. As noted previously, payments on the national debt have for many years gone almost entirely to satisfy the interest alone on that debt, while the amount of debt itself has continued to climb. This is happening in large part because Congress has failed to direct the Treasury to exercise its money-creation powers, and has instead caused the Treasury to resort to the private bond market to raise money, borrowed at interest, to renovate and build our infrastructure.

Intent of Act:

The Secretary of United States Treasury is hereby directed to make available to counties and municipalities across the nation a sum of money dedicated to the sorely needed repair and construction of our public infrastructure.

Invocation of Congressional Monetary Powers:

Such monies shall be created out of the power of Congress “To coin Money (and) regulate the Value thereof…” as stipulated in Art. 1, Sec. 8, Par. 5 of the United States Constitution. The Treasury shall not resort to borrowing such monies in the private market, whether by issuing bonds, borrowing from the private banking system, borrowing from foreign governments, or any other mode not directly based on its constitutional authority to create and regulate money as directed by Congress.

Establishment of an Independent Commission:

An independent Commission shall be established for the assessment of infrastructure needs and resource availability, and to formulate policy recommendations. The body of the Commission shall consist of twelve individuals constituted as follows:

• Two members of the House of Representatives
• Two members of the Senate
• Two members appointed by the President
• One representative of the civil engineering profession;
• One representative of the public works construction industry
• Two representatives of the national council of mayors
• Two representatives of the nation’s counties

Each prospective Commission member shall be nominated by the body he/she represents, and presented to a joint committee of the House and Senate for confirmation. Every consideration shall be given to seek a Commission that is diverse, balanced, and non-partisan in its overall constitution. In addition, the President shall appoint a chairperson from the citizenry at large, who is not associated with any of the above groups, to preside over the Commission. This nominee shall be presented to the joint committee for confirmation.

Conduct of the Commission:

The Commission so constituted shall conduct public hearings in the interest of making an assessment of the infrastructure needs of the nation and the human and material resources available to meet them. They shall publish a detailed summary of their findings on a yearly basis.

Determination of the Fund Created:

Based on their assessment, the Commission shall arrive at the determination of the total sum of money to be created and made available for infrastructure repair and construction b the United States Treasury.

Creating Policy Guideline Recommendations:

The Commission shall formulate recommendations for policy guidelines by which funds would be allocated.

Submission of Recommendations for Legislation:

On a yearly basis, the Commission shall submit its recommendations, both as to the sum of money to be created, and policy guidelines by which it would be allocated, to the Congress for implementation through legislation.

Executive of Legislative Mandate by Executive Branch:

The Executive Branch shall establish an office within the Department of Treasury which would administer the equitable dispersal of funds according to policy guidelines legislated by Congress, up to the limit of monies created.

Application by Counties and Municipalities:

Counties and municipalities, which are awarded interest-free loans, will receive direct payment out of the Treasury. Reasonable regulations to guarantee that the monies are used for the purposes applied for, and not diverted, unduly delayed in utilization, or otherwise abused shall apply.

Cost of Administration:

Money to cover the cost of administration of the loan process shall be assessed and attached to each loan. Guidelines for establishing reasonable fees shall be part of the Commission’s recommendation and Congressional legislation process. This fee will not be in the form of a compounding interest assessment.