Presidential contender Delaney proposes raising the gas tax

The HTF is set to expire, along with the FAST Act, on October 1, 2020, five weeks before the election. Policy experts have become less optimistic that a reauthorization bill can be passed this year.

“There are no easy answers to many of our economic issues but there are simple answers, including launching a massive, job-creating, community-improving infrastructure program to rebuild our roads and bridges, extend rural broadband, improve decaying water systems, and build the advanced energy economy,” Delaney said in launching his plan.

The American Trucking Associations (ATA), by contrast, is looking to generate $340 billion over the next 10 years by increasing the fuel tax by five cents per year for the next four years, for a total 20-cent increase. ATA’s plan would index the tax to both inflation and fuel efficiency improvements with a five percent annual cap.

In addition to raising the gas tax to bolster the HTF, Delaney’s plan creates seven new funds to pay for infrastructure, including a National Infrastructure Bank, a Water Infrastructure Matching Fund and a Climate Resiliency Fund.

Delaney is one of only two Democratic candidates that has unveiled a detailed infrastructure plan. U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) issued a $1 trillion infrastructure proposal that would “stabilize” the HTF, calling for a “series of corporate tax reforms” that includes adjusting the corporate tax rate to 25 percent.

Joe Biden, the current frontrunner for the Democrats, makes no mention of infrastructure on his official campaign website.

President Donald Trump’s 2017 plan to leverage $200 billion in federal money to over $1 trillion – which he rolled out after coming into office – never materialized after taking a backseat to other priorities. His latest $2 trillion infrastructure proposal, the funding for which has yet to be hammered out, has been put on hold after Trump cancelled a May 22 meeting at the White House with top Democrats.