Proposed bill would fund Highway Trust Fund for six years

Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.) filed legislation that would both rebuild U.S. infrastructure and reform the corporate tax code.

Delaney’s plan, the Infrastructure and Global Tax Competitiveness Act, uses repatriated revenue to increase infrastructure investment by imposing a mandatory deemed repatriation tax on corporate earnings currently held overseas. This revenue would fund a six-year re-authorization of the Highway Trust Fund at increased levels and create a new resource, the American Infrastructure Fund (AIF).

In addition, the bill establishes a commission to create permanent solvency for the Highway Trust Fund.

“The rising threat of corporate inversions, the looming insolvency of the Highway Trust Fund, and the daily problems caused by inadequate infrastructure all mean that we shouldn’t delay,” Delaney says in a statement. “It’s time for a new solution.”

According to Delaney, state and local governments will receive financing from the AIF for transportation, water, energy, education and communications projects.