McConnell to Trump: Tread Carefully on Infrastructure Proposal
President-elect Donald Trump’s $1 trillion campaign proposal to finance roads and bridges through tax credits should steer clear of provisions that add to the deficit, the leader of the U.S. Senate told reporters in Washington on Dec. 12.
“It’ll be interesting to see how this is put together. I am interested in seeing what is the administration going to recommend and I think the details are very important,” Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said, during an end-of-year press conference.
“We need to do this carefully and correctly and the issue of how to pay for it must be dealt with responsibly,” McConnell added.
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The leader stressed he would hope the Trump administration avoids pushing a $1 trillion infrastructure stimulus package, similar to the Obama administration’s 2009 push in the Recovery Act to address “shovel ready” infrastructure plans. McConnell told the reporters he was critical of the Recovery Act, indicating “nobody can find it did much of anything.”
Trump has pledged to send Congress legislation within his first 100 days in office that would facilitate a $1 trillion investment in infrastructure over 10 years by providing $137 billion in tax credits for investors. McConnell and his House counterpart, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), have yet to endorse the Trump campaign infrastructure proposal. Critics argue Trump’s proposal would privatize projects that would lead to new tolling facilities along key freight corridors.
Obama signed the Recovery Act into law in 2009 with the goal of addressing an international economic and fiscal crisis that afflicted domestic markets. The law, referred to as the Obama stimulus, funded federal contracts, loans and grants for local and regional projects.
