Democrats push Republicans to forge $1.2 trillion U.S. infrastructure plan

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The U.S. Capitol during a morning rainstorm, after Congress agreed to a multi-trillion dollar economic stimulus package created in response to the economic fallout from the COVID-19 Coronavirus, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., March 25, 2

By David Morgan and Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats in Congress and at the White House nudged Republicans on Wednesday to join them in forging an agreement on a $1.2 trillion infrastructure plan.

"My goal is that we have a deal by the end of the day, and hopefully by early afternoon," Democratic Senator Jon Tester told Reuters.

Tester is one of the "G-21," a group of 21 senators working on an eight-year bipartisan framework to rebuild roads, bridges and other traditional infrastructure sought by President Joe Biden, a Democrat.

A team of White House officials was due to meet in the early afternoon with nine Democrats, one independent and 11 Republicans in the Senate, before sitting down with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi at 7:30 p.m. EDT (2330 GMT).

Two senior Democrats said they expected Wednesday's meetings to yield results in negotiations that began after Biden rejected a Republican infrastructure proposal just over two weeks ago.

A sticking point is how to pay for it.

Biden has pledged not to increase taxes on Americans earning less than $400,000 a year, while Republicans are determined to protect a 2017 cut in corporate taxes.

"Collectively, we have identified a way to come up with an incredibly robust infrastructure package, one far more sizable than the one during the Obama era, without increasing taxes. And that's a construct we're wedded to, as a conference," Republican Senator Todd Young, a G-21 member, told Reuters.

Other Democrats suggested negotiations could be nearing an inflection point.

"I expect there will be some more clarity coming out of that meeting as to when this is all going to come together," House Democratic Conference Chairman Hakeem Jeffries told reporters.

The White House team includes Biden's legislative director Louisa Terrell and Steve Ricchetti, counselor to the president.

Biden, seeking to fuel growth after the coronavirus pandemic and address income inequality, had initially proposed that about $2.3 trillion be spent on a broader definition of infrastructure, including fighting climate change and providing care for children and the elderly.

The White House trimmed the offer to about $1.7 trillion in a bid to win the Republican support needed for any plan to get the 60 votes normally required in the evenly split 100-seat Senate to advance legislation.

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders is working up a far more ambitious infrastructure blueprint of $6 trillion.

Schumer has said he plans to hold a July vote on a bipartisan infrastructure bill and follow up in the autumn with a second Democratic-only measure.

The second bill, which Democrats could pass with the help of a tie-breaking vote by Vice President Kamala Harris, would include significant additional spending on unconventional infrastructure programs, such as home healthcare for the elderly and others. That maneuver would require all 48 Democrats and the two independents that caucus with them to agree.