Dem bill would pay for Highway Trust Fund by closing corporate tax breaks

Reps. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Sandy Levin (D-Mich.) have introduced a bill that would maintain the Highway Trust Fund, which is expected to dry up this summer, by closing tax breaks for corporate expatriations.

Van Hollen, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, and Levin, the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, said their proposal would prevent the Highway Trust fund from going dry by raising $19.5 billion over 10 years.

{mosads}”This bill will accomplish two important goals — it will stop rewarding companies who renounce their American citizenship and move overseas, and it will make critical investments here at home,” Van Hollen said.

Levin argued the bill would prop up the Highway Trust Fund as well as prevent large corporations from avoiding U.S. taxes, which has long been a Democratic priority.

“This is a matter of job growth and tax fairness, combined into one important measure,” Levin said.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has backed the proposal as Congress finds a way to keep the Highway Trust Fund solvent.

“This basic measure of tax fairness will keep the Trust Fund solvent as we work for a long term solution,” Pelosi said in a statement.