WASHINGTON - A day before heading to the White House to meet with President Donald Trump, top Democrats in Congress on Monday said a bill to boost U.S. infrastructure must be funded with"substantial, new and real revenue" to meet massive needs across the country.They also called for investments in risk mitigation efforts for current infrastructure to handle the effects of climate change.
Trump economic adviser Larry Kudlow told reporters on Monday that the president had not made up his mind on whether to support raising a federal tax on gasoline to help fund an infrastructure package.Both sides are keeping expectations low for the meeting and no formal proposals are expected to be exchanged.
The current tax of 18.4 cents a gallon on gasoline has been in place since 1993. The federal diesel tax is 24.4 cents a gallon. The president, who vowed in 2016 to back $1 trillion of infrastructure spending over 10 years, has been vague about his plans in recent months. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters on April 11 that a big infrastructure boost is popular but"nobody on either side has stepped up with a credible proposal to pay for it.