Yesterday, Senators Barbara Boxer (D-California) and Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) announced a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate for repatriated earnings from 35 percent down to 6.5 percent, a move which they believe will encourage corporations to return some of the estimated $2 trillion in off-shore earnings back to the United States to fund the Highway Trust Fund (HTF).  This is one of several proposals that have been offered to extend the HTF beyond May 31, 2015.  The Boxer/Paul proposal is similar to a funding mechanism that President Barack Obama has endorsed.  Several other proposals to fund the HTF are expected to be announced in the coming weeks, including efforts by a joint House and Senate group announced by Senator Tom Carper (D-Delaware) to slowly phase-in an increase to the current federal gas tax.  Additional details on the Boxer/Paul transportation funding proposal can be accessed here