Sen. James Inhofe: Every Funding Option for an Infrastructure Plan ‘On the Table’
WASHINGTON — A funding proposal for the country’s infrastructure system would likely entail myriad options, such as public-private partnerships and raising taxes on fuel, the former chairman of the Senate transportation committee told reporters May 16.
“There’s a place in there for all of the above,” Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), the Environment and Public Works panel’s former leader, said after a committee hearing. “There are a lot of approaches, innovative approaches … This is going to be different. I can’t tell you what it’s going to be. But everything is on the table, including P3s.”
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When asked further about the plan, Inhofe added that raising taxes on diesel and gasoline would be considered as well.
Senators should take the lead from House authorizers on crafting a long-term infrastructure measure, Inhofe added. He said he was confident such a measure would be advanced in the not-so-distant future.
When Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao appears before the committee May 17, Inhofe said he’d like to hear her expand on the Trump administration’s vision for funding the transportation system. She had been vague during her confirmation hearing in January, he said.
Transportation stakeholders noted Chao also had been vague in describing the White House’s infrastructure plan at the kickoff of Infrastructure Week on May 15. As she put it, "everyone recognizes there is no one-size-fits-all revenue model for infrastructure projects."
Despite pledging to advance a $1 trillion, 10-year plan that would invest in roads, airports and transit projects, President Trump has not mentioned infrastructure since the start of Infrastructure Week. The freight industry has been calling on Congress and the president to approve an increase in fuel taxes to help upgrade roads and bridges from the Eisenhower-era.
The federal 24.4 cents-per-gallon diesel tax and 18.4 cents-per-gallon gas tax have not been raised since 1993.
