Lawmakers introduce infrastructure bills

U.S. Rep. John Delaney (R-Md.) this week introduced two bipartisan bills that call for rebuilding U.S. infrastructure using revenue resulting from tax reform.

Delaney and U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) have introduced the proposed Partnership to Build America Act, which would create a new American Infrastructure Fund (AIF) to finance state and local infrastructure projects. The fund would be capitalized through a one-time bond sale to U.S. corporations looking to "repatriate" a portion of their international earnings, Delaney said this week in a press release issued by his office.

In addition, Delaney and U.S. Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.) have introduced the proposed Infrastructure 2.0 Act, which would create the AIF fund and provide additional revenue to expand the Highway Trust Fund by using more comprehensive international tax reform. Delaney first proposed combining international tax reform and increased infrastructure in 2013.

"There is a lot of interest on both sides of the aisle in infrastructure and our solution bridges the partisan gap," said Delaney. "Our broken tax code and our crumbling infrastructure are two problems that are dragging down productivity and economic growth and tackling these two problems at once would be completely transformative for our long-term trajectory."