INRECAP

Fiscal constraints are a fundamental part of US state & local public sector governance. They cannot (and in many cases, should not) be changed quickly, even to respond to an emerging crisis in public infrastructure. But there is another path: Highly rated public infrastructure agencies can seek new and innovative ways to augment the basic debt capitalization of infrastructure projects in order to mitigate the binding forms (though not the spirit) of fiscal constraints. Innovative recapitalization, using the full range of private and public sector capital sources, can be an important - and realistic - part of the solution to the serious challenge of restoring US public infrastructure.