Sanders against infrastructure deal with more gas taxes, electric vehicle fees

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Sunday said that while he believed what was included in the proposed bipartisan infrastructure bill was “mostly good,” he did not support raising the gas tax, issuing fees on electric vehicles or privatizing infrastructure.

On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” host Chuck Todd asked Sanders if he was willing to “take what you can get” in the bipartisan proposal and pursue other changes to the home care aspect in another Democratic-led bill.

“Well, look, as I said, what is in the bipartisan bill in terms of spending is, from what I can see, mostly good. It is roads and bridges, and we need to do that. That is what we are proposing in our legislation but in much greater numbers,” Sanders said.

WATCH: @SenSanders says one of his concerns with the bipartisan infrastructure proposal is “how they are going to pay for” it. #IfItsSunday

Sanders: “I don’t know that they even know yet, but some of the speculation is raising a gas tax, which I don’t support.” pic.twitter.com/5RU2TrGBz4

— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) June 20, 2021

However, the Vermont senator said he took issue with what he characterized as a lack of clarity about how the bipartisan bill would be funded.

“I don’t know that they even know yet, but some of the speculation is raising our gas tax, which I don’t support, a fee on electric vehicles, privatization of infrastructure. Those are proposals that I would not support,” he said.

Todd asked if Sanders would commit to not standing in the way of the bipartisan legislation if he was able to secure a commitment from President Biden and moderate Democrats for a reconciliation package

“I don’t know that anybody could give you an honest answer to that because nobody really knows what is going to be in this bipartisan agreement and how it is going to be paid for,” Sanders said. “So if it is roads and bridges, yeah, of course we need to do that, and I support that. If it is regressive taxation, you know, raising the gas tax or a fee on electric vehicles or the privatization of infrastructure, no, I wouldn’t support it. So we don’t have the details right now.”