Lawmakers: President Trump Supports Gas Tax Increase to Help Pay for Infrastructure
President Donald Trump has reportedly come out in support of a gas tax increase to help pay for the new infrastructure plan.
The discussion to increase the gas tax has restarted after the Trump administration rolled out its $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan Monday.
Lawmakers said that the president supported the idea and even “promised to provide leadership” for it.
“To my surprise, President Trump, today in our meeting, offered his support for raising the gas and diesel tax by 25 cents a gallon and dedicating that money to improve our roads, highways, and bridges,” Democratic Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware said in a statement, according to Fox News.
Carper added that Trump “came back to the idea of a 25 cent increase several times throughout the meeting.”
The current gas tax is 18.4 cents per gallon and hasn’t been raised since 1993.
Trump also reportedly said that he believes that lawmakers can find a bipartisan plan for infrastructure.
Democrat Rep. Peter DeFazio has long called for an increased gas tax and said that the president said that Congress needs “really strong support from the White House” to push for it because House Speaker Paul Ryan is “not interested” in it.
The $1.5 trillion dollar infrastructure plan calls for $200 billion to be spent by the federal government on infrastructure over the next 10 years.
The rest of the money would come through partnerships with state and local governments, as well as private entities.
One-quarter of the federal money — $50 billion — will be devoted to rural infrastructure projects.
The bulk of that money will be allocated to state governors to direct where it is most needed.
However, not every lawmaker is on board with increasing the gas tax in order to raise the money.
“I’d hate to see a new tax siphon off 20 percent of the $1,000 tax reform bonuses back to the swamp this year,” said FreedomWorks President Adam Brandon in a statement, according to Fox News.
Ray LaHood, the former transportation secretary under former President Barack Obama, appeared on Fox News’ “Cavuto: Coast to Coast” to voice his support for the gas tax change.
“Raise the gas tax which has not been raised in 25 years. Everything in America has gone up. The gas tax hasn’t,” he said. “If you want to develop a big pot of money the gas tax, which built the interstate system by the way over 50 years, is the way to do it.”
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