Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.), the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, released a draft of a long-awaited infrastructure plan on Monday that addresses possible funding sources for a number of potential projects.
The bill calls for significant federal investment in infrastructure projects and grant programs through at least 2021. It includes billions of dollars in grant funding, as well as trillions in appropriations for projects of national significance.
To provide at least partial funding, the draft calls for a 15-cent-per-gallon tax on gasoline and a 20-cent-per-gallon tax on diesel. The increases would be phased in over a three-year period.
The draft also calls for the secretary of Transportation to award grants for national infrastructure projects, with 30% of the money allotted toward projects in rural areas.
The proposal also aims to reform the Highway Trust Fund to keep it solvent. The bill would establish a Highway Trust Fund Commission, consisting of 15 members. The group would conduct a study on the nation’s highway system and submit a report on its findings by Jan. 15, 2021.
Shuster said in a statement that the proposal was crafted using input from both Democrats and Republicans, as well as "a broad group of infrastructure stakeholders."
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Source: The Hill
