Summit Notebook

The Obama Administration has made infrastructure spending one of its top priorities as the nation grapples with mounting needs for its roads, bridges, water supply, power grid, schools and solid waste. As states and other municipalities struggle to find innovative financing for hundreds of billions of dollars of projects, new investments will soon be available for both individuals and institutions.
 
The increase in private-public partnerships is one topic high on financiers’ radar screens as localities are under more pressure to get projects started and obtain the needed funding for them. “Infrastructure” as a concept has become something of a catch-all and we will be pressing our guests to discuss how worried they are that less-critical projects will get piled into more important ones.
 
How will California deal with its growing water need? What’s the outlook for infrastructure for investors? How hamstrung are governments with all the need?  How tenuous are ratings? How long a window is there for these projects, politically?