A bipartisan Senate bill would set transport policy and investment for six years, but is only funded for three years using money that would be redirected from other parts of the government.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., continued pushing over the weekend to get a long-term transportation bill through the Senate before funding infrastructure aid to states expires on Friday. And he is using the controversial Export-Import Bank reauthorization as a sweetener to get a deal done, according to politics web site Politico.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who is looking to run for President, called McConnell a liar on the Senate floor Friday for privately denying in May he made any deal to bring up an Ex-Im Bank reauthorization vote to help gain passage of Trade Promotion Authority.
On Sunday, the Senate voted 67-26 on a procedural matter that opens the door for a vote Monday on the export credit agency, which was forced to cease operations last month when Congress refused to extend its charter to the chagrin of many in the business community.
McConnell now wants to attach the Ex-Im Bank amendment to the surface transportation bill in hopes of getting reluctant Democrats to support his plan of paying for three years of transportation funding with $47 billion in offsets from other government programs, such as reduced interest rates paid by the Federal Reserve to large banks, cutting off Social Security to wanted felons, selling oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and re-directing Transportation Security Administration and Customs fees.
Critics note that the proposed highway bill, crafted with Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., only funds half of a six-year bill and that the money is not from a recurring source. They prefer finding a sustainable source of new revenues that will keep the Highway Trust Fund solvent and maintain highway aid to states for the foreseeable future without requiring borrowing or appropriations of general tax revenue.
The offsets would supplement the Highway Trust Fund, which is not collecting enough in motor fuel tax receipts to keep up with demand for highway projects at the state level because of inflation and vehicles with better fuel economy. The gas and diesel taxes have not been raised in 22 years and as cars get better mileage, the amount of revenue declines because the tax is assessed on each gallon purchased at the pump.
Transportation advocates and businesses are clamoring for more federal investment in roads and bridges because deteriorating conditions and lack of capacity in high-traffic areas are hampering economic productivity.
McConnell is at odds with House leaders, who are championing a five-month stop-gap transportation funding bill passed by the House a week ago. They argue that the short-term extension of existing programs will allow time to come up with a one-time infusion of money from tax reform that offers incentives to corporations to return overseas profits to the United States at a lower rate, which would prevent the need to raid other programs in an effort to maintain the status quo budget.
According to Politico, the Senate could also pass a two-month extension without an Ex-Im Bank component in an effort to force the House’s hand. Many Democrats and traditional Republicans support the Ex-Im Bank because it returns a profit to the Treasury and helps U.S. businesses compete overseas, but a strong minority of Republicans who favor small government say the agency simply helps large corporations that don’t need government assistance.
Sen. Cruz says McConnell lied about Ex-Im Bank as fight over long-term transportation bill continues
