His statement demonstrates the risk of Democrats losing support from the left.
Sen. Bernie Sanders on Sunday said he wouldn’t support the bipartisan infrastructure bill if it included measures such as raising the gas tax or a fee on electric vehicles. The statement demonstrates that Democrats are at risk of losing progressives’ support in a 50-50 Senate even as they court Republicans to produce a bipartisan bill. «If it is roads and bridges, yeah, of course we need to do that and I support that,» Sanders (I-Vt.) said on NBC’s «Meet the Press.» «If it is regressive taxation — you know, raising the gas tax or a fee on electric vehicles, or the privatization of infrastructure, no I wouldn’t support it, but we don’t have the details right now.» Twenty-one senators, including 11 Republicans, have detailed a bipartisan proposal that costs about $973 billion over five years or $1.2 trillion over eight. The plan would have $579 billion in new spending and would repurpose unspent Covid relief funds, impose a surcharge on electric vehicles, and expand the use of state and local funds for coronavirus relief.
