An out-of-the-box idea to fund transportation projects gains traction

The sophomore congressman from Maryland isnt given to pauses in his monologue, but this time he ponders for a second or two when asked how he came up with an idea to yank America out of transportation quicksand.

I looked at all the factors a while ago and said, This is where were going to go. People may not realize it, but they will, says Rep. John Delaney (D).

They realize it now.

Just as success has a thousand fathers, the concept of using almost $2trillion in offshore corporate cash to bail out the beleaguered federal trust fund for roads, bridges and transit seems to have lots of parents on Capitol Hill these days.

The number one source that is being talked about is this repatriation of funds, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) told the U.S. Conference of Mayors in January.

A couple of years ago, however, when the then-freshman congressman from Potomac began pushing the concept, it took a while before bipartisan support more than 40 members from each party emerged.

When we started talking about this two years ago, people were like, Whats that idea? People viewed it as a real out-of-the-box idea, Delaney says, and now everyones talking about it. The presidents making references to it, Speaker [John] Boehner talked about it, and you hear that Rand Paul and Barbara Boxer are thinking about a bill.

In fact, when Boxer and Paul announced their proposal, the unlikely marriage between the liberal California Democratic senator and the Libertarian-leaning Kentucky Republican senator drew attention as much for style as for content.

Theres a tremendous amount of momentum in the Congress and the administration converging toward this idea, Delaney says. Theres a real natural deal to be done there between Democrats and Republicans.

He figures its picking up steam because there is a total absence of other ideas to deal with this problem, other than lets raise the gas tax.

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An out-of-the-box idea to fund transportation projects gains traction