A $2 trillion proposal from 2020 presidential aspirant John Delaney would look to improve connectivity along freight routes, transit systems and other corridors through a comprehensive revenue stream.
“There are no easy answers to many of our economic issues, but there are simple answers, including launching a massive, job-creating, community-improving infrastructure program to rebuild our roads and bridges, extend rural broadband, improve decaying water systems and build the advanced energy economy,” Delaney said May 29. “As your president … I will roll up my sleeves and do what my dad the electrician did his whole life, get to work and start building things, big things, again.”
Specifically, Delaney would dedicate $200 billion to the federal Highway Trust Fund, an account used to assist states with construction and maintenance projects which relies primarily on dwindling revenue from the fuel tax. Under the plan, the fuel tax would be increased to account for inflation since it was last raised in 1993. Then the rate would be indexed to inflation.