Trump, Pelosi to meet next week on infrastructure

The meeting, which also will involve Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, reportedly is scheduled for Tuesday morning.

   Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is scheduled to meet with President Donald Trump next week to discuss an infrastructure plan.
   “We’ll be meeting next week when we come back to talk about what the prospect is for the size in terms of resources and scope of what that might be,” Pelosi said Tuesday at the Time 100 Summit in New York City.
   The meeting reportedly is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Tuesday and will include Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
   “The President wants a bipartisan infrastructure package that rebuilds crumbling infrastructure, invests in the projects and industries of tomorrow, and promotes permitting efficiency,” White House spokesman Judd Deere said Wednesday in an email to American Shipper.
   Republicans and Democrats have long agreed that infrastructure is a bipartisan issue, but have disagreed on the size and scope of the legislation. Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo., said earlier this year he expects the House’s infrastructure package to be broader than the one from the Senate.
   Pelosi also said earlier this month she would like to an investment of up to $2 trillion for infrastructure and would discuss with President Trump how much should be financed.
   “I do think that there’s plenty of room for bipartisanship,” Pelosi said on April 12. “As I have said before and I’ll say again: The president has said, over and over again, he wants to do an infrastructure bill — so do we, and we’re going to — we’re making progress as to what the parameters of that would be time-wise and financially.”
   AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka on Tuesday said infrastructure overhaul hasn’t happened yet because the Republican Party is afraid of raising the gas tax, according to MarketWatch. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, however, has told Congress that “nothing is off the table” in terms of funding the Highway Trust Fund.
   Rep. Peter Defazio, D-Ore., repeatedly has called for an increase in the federal gas tax, which has remained stagnant since 1993 at 18.4 cents per gallon for gasoline and 24.4 cents per gallon for diesel without an index to inflation.