President Obama proposed a Build America Bond-like program to be used as a tool to help finance infrastructure. The taxable, direct-pay America Fast Forward bond program falls under the president’s larger push to invest in the country’s crumbling infrastructure, which he outlined in his state of the union address. The AFF bond program has its roots from a Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority proposal that launched last year. The LA Metro initiative included a $45 billion, 10-year taxable tax-credit bond program and an expansion of the Transportation Infrastructure Finance Innovation Act. While many muni market participants are encouraged by the president’s focus on infrastructure investment, they are concerned that recent threats to tax exemption might still be on the table as a way to raise revenue. They worry that the AFF bond program might serve as a substitute to traditional tax exempt financing.

Image: Thinkstock