The 114th Congress continues to introduce new legislation, and in this week's edition of The Taxpayer's Tab, NTUF discusses the impact that three of those bills could have on the federal budget.
- Most Expensive: Federal gas tax receipts support the Highway Trust Fund, which finances most of the repair and maintenance projects on our nation's roads, but it's in bad fiscal shape: funds are expected to run out by the end of May unless Congress acts before then. In response, Congressman John Delaney (D-MD) introduced H.R. 625, the Infrastructure 2.0 Act, which would institute a one-time 8.75 percent tax on corporate overseas income in order to raise over $120 billion for the Trust Fund. The bill would call for $195 billion in new infrastructure spending over the next six years.
- Least Expensive: Congressman John Duncan (R-TN) and Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ) introduced H.R. 892/S. 463, the Harvest Price Subsidy Reduction Act, which would require farmers to pay the full premium on certain types of crop insurance payments (a portion of which the government currently subsidizes). It would reduce federal spending by $7 billion over the next five years.
- Most Friended: Congressman Kevin Yoder (R-KS) and Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced H.R. 699/S. 356, the Email Privacy Act. It would require government agencies to obtain a court warrant before accessing private electronic communications, and prevent communications providers from knowingly divulging such content to a government entity. It had 244 cosponsors in the House and 12 in the Senate as of Thursday afternoon.
For more on these bills, check out the Tab online.