President Trump has called for $2 trillion in infrastructure spending in the upcoming 'phase 4' coronavirus stimulus.
"With interest rates for the United States being at ZERO, this is the time to do our decades long awaited Infrastructure Bill. It should be VERY BIG & BOLD, Two Trillion Dollars, and be focused solely on jobs and rebuilding the once great infrastructure of our Country! Phase 4," Trump tweeted on Tuesday.
As we noted earlier, Congressional Democrats and the White House have been compiling their lists of what they say is needed in the next package.
Prime among them is "our infrastructure needs," according to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who told MSNBC on Tuesday that "Many more people are teleworking, or tele-educating or really communicating with family and friends."
"There are infrastructure needs that our country has that directly relate to how we are proceeding with the coronavirus. Many more people are teleworking, or tele-educating or really communicating with family and friends," said Pelosi, according to te Washington Times.
In an interview Tuesday with MSNBC, Pelosi said negotiators had already agreed that “everything will be specific to the coronavirus” in the next round of legislation and that it wouldn’t become a “wish list.”
In an interview with the New York Times published on Monday, Pelosi indicated that another possible move was getting rid of the limit on state and local tax deductions, or SALT, that was part of the 2017 tax overhaul and affects California, Pelosi’s home state, and New York. -Bloomberg (via Yahoo!)
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) says Pelosi's SALT plan is "a nonstarter."
"Millionaires don’t need a new tax break as the federal government spends trillions of dollars to fight a pandemic," said spokesman Michael Zona.
Also being pushed by Pelosi is a vote-by-mail system amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
"In terms of the elections, I think that we will probably be moving to vote by mail," she told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Tuesday, adding that it's a "reality of life" now.
Pelosi claims she won't rush to push the bill through and doesn't expect the package to be ready befor Easter, according to the . Instead, it will be ready for a vote when Congress returns.
The White House, meanwhile, has compiled their own list based on what US agencies say they need totaling roughly $600 billion, according to Bloomberg.
