US Chamber pushes to ‘jump-start’ public works plan

Bloomberg

The federal gas tax should be increased to help modernise US roads, bridges and other public works, and Congress must expand funding and financing options for projects, US Chamber of Commerce President Thomas Donohue said.
The chamber is calling on Congress and the Trump administration to raise federal fuel taxes by 25 cents, pass initiatives including a new federal loan guarantee programme, streamline permitting and take action to ensure there are enough trained workers.
“The time is now. Its time to invest in a 21st century infrastructure, a system of infrastructures to support and grow our 21st century economy,” Donohue said at an event at the chamber’s headquarters in Washington.
The US business lobby is hosting a summit with business, policy and labor leaders to discuss infrastructure investment and to “jump-start” action in Washington in 2018 as President Donald Trump prepares to roll out principles for a promised $1 trillion infrastructure initiative this month.
The US Chamber will mobilise its members, state and local chambers and coalitions and work to build support for an infrastructure bill despite the partisanship and political head winds in Washington, Donohue said in a brief interview after his speech. He didn’t provide an amount but said “we’re going to spend whatever money we have to do to do what we do.”
“Whatever it takes us to get the right kind of bill with the right kind of support and the right kind of improvement—particularly on the permitting side—we’re going to be there,” Donahue said.
The chamber is calling for increasing the federal gas tax by 25 cents—5 cents per year during the next five years, including indexing the rate to inflation—to raise
$394 billion over 10 years. The increase would cost the average American about $9 a month more in gas taxes, the chamber said. The last time federal fuel levies were raised was 1993, and since then, 39 states have increased their gas taxes, the chamber said.
The business lobby has previously called for increasing the federal gas tax as the simplest, fairest and most straightforward way to raise more money for projects, but this is the first time it has recommended an amount.
Donohue said he’d rather see the entire 25-cent increase enacted at once but will take it in phases if that’s needed to pass it.
The federal per-gallon taxes of 18.4 cents on gasoline and 24.4 cents on diesel were last raised 25 years ago. Since then, the revenue they generate has declined as inflation has reduced their purchasing power and the average fuel economy of passenger vehicles increased.
While some Republican congressional leaders have flatly rejected an increase, Representative Bill Shuster, the Republican chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, has said every option should be on the table. “Our leaders need to stop hiding behind the fallacy that this can’t be done and just go do it,” Donohue said in his speech.
The chamber is also pushing for more private and public investment. The recommendations include expanding federal infrastructure loan programmes such as the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act and creating a federal new loan guarantee program to be repaid through dedicated public and private funding sources. Any infrastructure initiative must streamline the permitting process for projects, Donohue said. Trump issued an executive order in August to establish “one federal decision” for major projects and an average two-year goal
for permitting.