Spotlight: Building a New Foundation for U.S. Infrastructure – How Private Investors Can Help Close the Funding Gap
Dear Colleagues and Partners,
We are at a critical juncture; as a nation, we can either support policy changes and continued significant investment in our infrastructure to close decades-long funding gaps or revert to pre-Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act levels of investment and fall behind our global competitors. Today, we are shining a light on our United for Infrastructure Partnership Network members, the Global Infrastructure Investor Association (GIIA), for a special spotlight feature on its latest white paper: Building a New Foundation for U.S. Infrastructure. GIIA’s white paper lays out detailed policy and legislative changes that they feel could transform how we invest infrastructure nationwide.
For infrastructure investors, the United States is a land of opportunity. There is enormous potential to provide Americans with energy security, pave the way toward a future of digital data and artificial intelligence, and make highways, airports and railroads fit for the second quarter of the 21st century and beyond.
But for citizens awaiting this vision, the obstacles are a $3.7 trillion public sector funding gap recently identified by the American Society of Civil Engineers, and insufficient incentives for private investors to close that gap.
That’s why – together with law firm Sullivan & Cromwell – the Global Infrastructure Investor Association (GIIA) last month published Building a New Foundation for U.S. Infrastructure, a White Paper with a series of recommendations to attract more global capital to America. With the right steps, Congress and the Administration can turn opportunity into a cornerstone of their legacy.
Currently GIIA members are significantly underinvested in the U.S. compared to the rest of the world. Their American portfolio represents just 17 per cent of a combined $2.2 trillion-worth of assets under management worldwide.
The opportunity to grow that share —whether through with fully-private assets like ports, data centers, energy, and broadband, or through public-private partnerships (P3s) on airports, toll roads and water systems—is massive.
Privately owned and managed infrastructure is commonplace in other parts of the world, not least in Europe, Australia and Canada. Governments encourage it because they know they cannot afford to fund infrastructure alone. Global investors – some of the largest are American – now have decades of experience in planning, delivering, managing and maintaining infrastructure. Doing it more quickly, more cost efficiently, and with more innovation than hard-pressed public authorities can be expected to achieve.
There is a sometimes politically inconvenient truth that investors need to make a return. But that is a good thing for millions of public and private sector workers, whose retirement plans then grow steadily, thanks to dividends that investors earn on their behalf.
So how to attract more private investment? The legislative challenges are not insurmountable.
The U.S. Senate Finance Committee recently proposed amendments to the tax legislation working its way through Congress—the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’—making permanent certain tax credits for new capital investments. But this only scratches the surface of what Congress could do to optimize incentives.
The Senate’s postponement of Section 899 (a tax on foreign-based companies) until 2027 is a start but needs to go much further. Infrastructure investments are often commitments to manage and maintain assets for many years and depend on long-term policy certainty.
Congress has many other legislative routes to increase the opportunities for private investment. Later this year, it will begin looking at expiring infrastructure programs formerly authorised by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. It could insert new incentives for investors that are currently lacking.
Congress should also streamline permitting systems and provide adequate resources for timely permit evaluation, all while maintaining the necessary protections. Such reforms would reduce complexity, cut the time and cost of delivering projects, and provide better value for private and public money.
One recent step forward came in the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling last month to narrow the scope of the National Environmental Policy Act. That should make projects more attractive to private capital.
Launched during Infrastructure Week 2025, our White Paper sets out 25 calls-to-action. These include opening the door to private finance at the state level by building state capacity to leverage existing assets and passing P3-enabling legislation. Our recommendations have been well received by industry stakeholders, state and local advocacy groups, as well as congressional offices and members of the Administration.
If Congress takes action, the U.S. could become the world’s top destination for private investment in infrastructure, significantly narrowing the funding gap, benefiting communities, and boosting economic growth and jobs across the country.