Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) on Sunday gave CBS News' John Dickerson a breakdown of how a bipartisan group of senators haggling with the White House on an infrastructure package aims to pay for their proposal.
For starters, Collins dismissed reports suggesting the senators' plan includes a gas-tax increase. Instead, she said the payment strategy involves "the implementation of an infrastructure financing authority that's very similar to the state revolving funds that we used for sewer and water projects," repurposing unused COVID-19 funding — Collins pointed to California's "enormous surplus" as an example — strictly for "water, sewer, and broadband," and, finally, "a provision for electric vehicles to pay for their share of using our roads and bridges." Collins said the justification for the electric vehicle idea is that their drivers "are literally free riders because they're not paying any gas tax."
The White House, though, has repeatedly said it will oppose a mileage tax for electric vehicles because it would violate President Biden's pledge not to raise taxes on any individuals making less than $400,000 per year, The New York Times reported last week.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Wright of Derby: From the Shadows – a ‘revelatory’ exhibitionThe Week Recommends The National Gallery’s show brings together the revered artist’s most spectacular works
-
Train Dreams pulses with ‘awards season gravitas’The Week Recommends Felicity Jones and Joel Edgerton star in this meditative period piece about a working man in a vanished America
-
Crossword: November 13, 2025The Week's daily crossword
-
Newsom slams Trump’s climate denial at COP30speed read Trump, who has called climate change a ‘hoax,’ declined to send any officials to this week’s summit
-
UK, Colombia halt intel to US over boat attacksSpeed Read Both countries have suspended intelligence sharing with the US over the bombing of civilian boats suspected of drug smuggling
-
Trump pardons 2020 fake electors, other GOP alliesSpeed Read The president pardoned Rudy Giuliani and more who tried to overturn his 2020 election loss
-
Supreme Court to decide on mail-in ballot limitsSpeed Read The court will determine whether states can count mail-in ballots received after Election Day
-
Democrats split as Senate votes to end shutdownSpeed Read The proposed deal does not extend Affordable Care Act subsidies, the Democrats’ main demand
-
Obamacare: Why premiums are rocketingFeature The rise is largely due to the Dec. 31 expiration of pandemic-era ‘enhanced’ premium subsidies, which are at the heart of the government shutdown
-
USDA orders states to ‘undo’ full SNAP paymentsSpeed Read The Trump administration is telling states not to pay full November food stamp benefits
-
Senate takes first step to end record shutdownSpeed Read Eight senators in the Democratic caucus voted with Republicans to advance legislation to reopen the government
