Republicans are working on a counter-proposal to President Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan that includes a fraction of the funding and imposes fees on taxpayers rather than corporations, Politico reports.
The GOP plan is expected to be in the range of $600 billion to $800 billion, far lower than Biden’s $2.2 trillion proposal.
Republicans took issue with Biden including broadband, school renovations, and other measures in his infrastructure proposal.
"What I'd like to do is get back to what I consider the regular definition of infrastructure in terms of job creation. So that's roads, bridges, ports, airports, including broadband into that, water infrastructure," West Virginia Republican Shelley Moore Capito told CNBC, predicting the GOP plan would cost less than $800 billion.
GOP plan targets people not companies:
Much of Biden’s proposal would be funded with an increase to the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28% after Republicans slashed it from 35% in 2017.
Republicans have balked at the idea.
Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, who is working on the GOP proposal, called for funding the bill with “user fees.”
"My own view is that the pay-for ought to come from people who are using it. So if its an airport, the people who are flying," Romney told reporters. "If it's a port, the people who are shipping into the port; if it's a rail system, the people who are using the rails; If it's highways, it ought to be gas if it's a gasoline-powered vehicle."
Romney told reporters on Wednesday he would "have to look at all the numbers and see how much we need and where we are."
Some Republicans want more funding:
Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy is calling for more money for some provisions.
"Something I would like to see is double the money for roads and bridges," he told reporters.
Bernie Sanders, the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, said the $618 billion offer the GOP made to Biden already was far short of the necessary investments.
"We have a major crisis in terms of roads, bridges, water systems, affordable housing, you name it. [The GOP price tag] is nowhere near what we need," he told reporters.
