President Trump said yesterday that a $2 trillion infrastructure package should be part of Congress’s next response to the coronavirus pandemic, reviving a 2016 campaign pledge to ramp up construction projects despite public health guidance that Americans should stay home and isolated to the greatest extent possible, the Washington Post reported. Citing extraordinarily low interest rates that have reduced the cost of federal borrowing, Trump said on Twitter that now “is the time” to push forward with an infrastructure package in response to the severe economic downturn caused by the coronavirus that causes the disease COVID-19. Numerous House Democrats have also discussed in recent weeks advancing infrastructure legislation as part of their response to the coronavirus pandemic. But lawmakers, for more than three years now, have failed to break meaningful ground on bipartisan infrastructure talks. Some experts pointed out that a pandemic may be a poor time to ramp up construction projects, given that federal health officials are urging workers to stay home if possible and avoid personal contact. Read more.
In related news, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested the next package include a retroactive rollback of a tax change that hurt high earners in states like New York and California, the New York Times reported. A full rollback of the limit on the state and local tax deduction (SALT) would provide a quick cash infusion in the form of increased tax rebates to an estimated 13 million American households — nearly all of which earn at least $100,000 a year. Read more.
