The White House is weighing several ways – including a kilometer charge on vehicles – to fund multi-billion dollar infrastructure proposals, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Friday.
Buttigieg, speaking with CNBC’s Kayla Tausche, also argued that President Joe Biden’s upcoming plans to rebuild US roads, bridges and waterways would result in a net profit for the US taxpayer and not a net outlay.
“When you think of infrastructure, that’s a classic example of the kind of investment that pays for that investment,” he said. “That’s one of the many reasons we think this is so important. This is a jobs vision as well as an infrastructure vision, a climate vision and more.”
He also weighed in on several potential income-generating options to fund the project. He spoke fondly of a kilometer charge, which would tax travelers based on how far they travel rather than how much gasoline they use.
Democrats have slowly turned away from a gas tax amid a simultaneous, climate-friendly effort to encourage consumers to drive electric cars.
Pete Buttigieg speaks at the Senate for Commerce, Science and Transportation nomination hearings to investigate his anticipated nomination as Secretary of Transportation in Washington.
Ken Cedeno | Reuters
“I hear a lot of appetite for making sure there are sustainable flows of finance,” said the transportation secretary. A mileage tax “is very promising if we believe in that so-called ‘user-pays’ principle: the idea that part of how we pay for roads is that you pay based on how much you drive.”
The transportation secretary’s remarks came as President Joe Biden prepared to work out sweeping infrastructure proposals that could cost three to four trillion dollars on a trip to Pittsburgh next week.
In his first press conference of his presidency, Biden said on Thursday that rebuilding the US’s physical and technological infrastructure is his next big task, which is crucial not only to the recovery of the economy but also to remain competitive with rivals such as China.
Buttigieg added on Friday that the White House is considering a revival of Build America Bonds, a special class of municipal bonds first introduced in the Obama administration with interest charges funded by the US Treasury.
AIFMs show “a lot of promise in terms of how we use that kind of funding. There are also ideas on things like a national infrastructure bank.”
His comments on Friday came a day after he pleaded with Congress on Thursday to make a “generational investment” to improve the country’s roads, bridges and waterways and combat climate change and racial inequality.
“There is near-universal recognition that broader recovery requires a national commitment to restore and transform America’s infrastructure,” Buttigieg told the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.