Sen. Susan Collins pushes back on 28 percent corporate tax rate

Moderate Republican Sen. Susan Collins (Maine) said on Sunday that she would not support the proposed 28 percent corporate tax rate in President Biden’s $2.25 trillion infrastructure plan, saying jobs would be lost.

On CNN’s “State of the Union,” host Jake Tapper asked Collins how much she would be willing to compromise on Biden’s plan.

“Well, at this point, I think now that the Republicans have put forth a reasonable offer, it’s up to the president to do a counteroffer to us,” Collins said, noting that the cost of Biden’s recent proposals totaled more than $4 trillion.

“That’s the amount that we spent to win World War II,” Collins said. “So this is an enormous package when you take both the traditional core infrastructure parts and the huge expansion of social programs that the president is advocating.”

Tapper noted that Collins has voiced some support for raising the corporate tax rate in order to help pay for Biden’s infrastructure plan, asking how much of an increase she would consider.

“Let me tell you what I won’t to support. I won’t support American businesses paying the highest corporate tax rate among developed countries in the world once again, and, unfortunately, that’s what 28 percent would be,” Collins said. “And that means that jobs would once again go overseas. So I think we need to look at a wide variety of pay-fors, but first we need to determine the scope of the bill, and we need to determine what the top line is going to be.”

Collins said it would be “premature” to discuss how to pay for the infrastructure plan, stating the exact amount needed had yet to be determined.

–Updated at 1:14 p.m.