“If the president does not lead on how we’re going to fund this infrastructure investment, it will not happen,’’ House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said during the kick-off in Washington on Monday for “infrastructure week,” sponsored by lobbying groups and other entities promoting investment in public works.
Besides changes to the fuel surcharge, Trump officials are also considering requiring states and localities to put up some of their own money to win grants for financing, according to the document. The administration is also weighing a 13-year re-authorization of the federal surface transportation bill that expires in September 2020, according to the document.
Yet grants and credits may not be enough. Public-works advocates including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the AFL-CIO and the American Trucking Associations say the only realistic way to generate enough revenue in the short term is to raise federal fuel taxes.
Trump told Bloomberg News in a 2017 interview that he would consider raising federal fuel taxes if the money were earmarked for highway projects. And in February 2018, lawmakers who attended a closed-door meeting with the president said he told them he’d support a 25-cent per-gallon increase. But White House officials including National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow have said publicly they don’t favor it.
Other administration officials including Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao have repeatedly said all funding options are on the table but stopped short of endorsing a gas tax or any other strategy.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.