Hope is fading on Capitol Hill that tax reform will be used to pay for President Trump’s $1 trillion infrastructure package.The administration released a sweeping tax plan on Wednesday that does not include money to revitalize U.S. roads, bridges, airports or other public works.
The one-page proposal includes repatriation, or taxing corporate earnings stashed overseas at a lower rate when it returns to the U.S., but does not indicate what the revenue should be spent on. Proponents of using repatriation as a funding tool for infrastructure are worried about the message that the White House is sending with the tax plan.
“This isn’t a good sign… It’s a punch in the gut,” Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.) said in a telephone interview with TheHill.com. “I think [Trump] has basically told people today he doesn’t want to do infrastructure.”
Delaney, who sponsors legislation to use repatriation to pay for transportation upgrades, has long argued that a massive infrastructure bill won’t get over the finish line in Congress unless it’s paired with tax reform.
Read the full report from The Hill.
