During the State of the Union address this week, President Obama again urged Congress to enact a “bipartisan infrastructure plan.”  The President proposed funding infrastructure investment by closing an unspecified corporate tax loophole, and has not publicly supported an increase in the federal gas tax.  He reiterated this position during the State of the Union address.  Federal highway and transit funding will run out on May 31, 2015, and Congress will need to act to fund the program prior to that date. 

Infrastructure investment has also garnered increased attention in Congress this week, as Representatives John Delaney (D-MD) and Michael Fitzpatrick (R-PA) have reintroduced legislation to create a $50 billion infrastructure bank that would be funded by allowing corporations to repatriate a portion of their overseas earnings tax-free, in exchange for the purchase of bonds to fund the infrastructure bank.