Camp’s tax reform bill includes $126B for transport projects

With the Highway Trust Fund set to go broke later this year, Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.) is proposing a tax reform bill that includes $126.5 billion he says could be set aside to fund federal transportation projects.

The House Ways and Means Committee chairman unveiled his Tax Reform Act of 2014 Wednesday, as President Obama is calling for the passage of a four-year, $302 billion transportation bill that would include $150 billion in tax reform revenue.

Camp’s office says his proposal could be used to “fully fund highway and infrastructure investment through the [Highway Trust Fund] for eight years.”

{mosads}At issue is the trust fund used to pay for road and transit projects, which is normally funded by revenue collected by the 18.4 cents-per-gallon federal gas tax.

The gas tax has not been increased since 1993, however, and the Congressional Budget Office and the Department of Transportation have projected that the Highway Trust Fund will go bankrupt as early as August without congressional action.

Obama is expected to unveil his proposal to use tax reform revenue to pay for infrastructure projects Wednesday afternoon.

Camp’s proposal dedicates $25 billion less to transportation from tax reform than Obama’s proposal currently does.

Transportation advocates have pushed lawmakers to increase the gas tax to create additional revenue for road and transit projects, but lawmakers have been hesitant to support the proposal.