the country, that won’t be until late April,
at the earliest.
“If we find ourselves where the economy needs
a stimulus, to me a highway infrastructure bill
would be a key component of that,” Sen. John
Barrasso, R-Wyo., chairman of his chamber’s
Energy and Public Works Committee, said in
an interview.
Underscoring the range of support for
infrastructure, groups praising the effort
Wednesday included the nonpartisan
Environmental Working Group, five steel
industry trade organizations and the National
Association of Counties.
Other prominent players were less enthusiastic.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said it favors
increased infrastructure spending but prefers
financing it by gradually raising federal fuel
taxes. Those levies have been stuck at 18.4 cents
per gallon for gasoline and 24.4 cents for diesel
since 1993 and are not adjusted for inflation.
“It is critically important to find a way to pay for
the investment that is needed,” said Neil Bradley,
the group’s executive vice president.
The Committee for a Responsible Federal
Budget, a bipartisan anti-deficit group, rejected
Trump’s argument that today’s near-zero interest
rates made infrastructure spending appealing.
“Just because borrowing is cheap right now
doesn’t mean it’s free,” said Maya MacGuineas,
the committee’s president.
Romina Boccia of the conservative Heritage
Foundation called passing an infrastructure bill
now a “terrible idea” the country can’t afford.
She said Trump’s push for the idea in his 2016