WH: Biden Won't Include Gas Tax Increase in Infrastructure Bill

President Joe Biden won’t include a gas tax increase in his infrastructure bill, White House press secretary told reporters Tuesday.  

“In yesterday’s meeting with members of Congress, the president mentioned the gas tax only to make a point that even a significant increase in the gas tax, which some people have proposed, would pay only for a fraction of the investment the country needs,” she said.

“Now, fundamentally, he does not believe that paying for this historic investment in rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure and creating millions of jobs should be on the backs of Americans.”

The report comes a day after Biden told lawmakers at a White House meeting that he was open to raising the gas tax by 5 cents to pay for the $2.3 trillion package, which includes large investments in clean energy and electric vehicle technology.

Biden reportedly also said he was open to instituting a user fee on electric vehicles.

Psaki refuted the first claim, telling reporters the president raised the prospect of a gas tax hike to point out it would not raise a lot of money.

“So, he doesn’t believe that anyway, he’s proposed his own means of paying for it, but he was using it as an example of how it wouldn’t even make a sizable dent in paying for the package,” she said.

Congress has not boosted the 18.4-cents-per-gallon federal gasoline tax since 1993. That tax is now worth just 10.2 cents after adjusting for inflation, and an increase is seen as potentially garnering bipartisan support.

The president’s proposed tax increases on corporations to pay for the bill have drawn a skeptical reaction from many Republicans, and some Democrats. The proposal would increase the corporate tax rate to 28 percent from 21 percent and increase taxes on companies’ foreign earnings.

The White House said the increases would, over 15 years, cover the cost of the package.

Some Republicans have indicated they are open to raising the tax gas and to place taxes based on the miles a vehicle travels in an attempt to capture revenue from electric vehicles that don’t use gasoline.

“We have to make sure we are putting money into the trust fund,” said Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo. “Electric vehicles are a perfect example of a vehicle system that doesn’t pay into the use of that road.”

Democrats have the option of passing the bill without Republican support if they use a process called reconciliation.

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