PLAN

legislation “needs to be bipartisan, fiscally responsible and make real long-term investments in our nation.”

Shuster has repeatedly called for a sustainable source of funding. At the recent GOP retreat in West Virginia, he floated the idea of raising the gas tax. It’s “the elephant in the room,” Shuster said.

Democrats have long championed public-works projects as a way to create jobs and stimulate the economy, but they are calling for a far larger federal investment than Trump will propose. Just last week, House Democrats unveiled an alternative plan, dubbed “A Better Deal to Rebuild America,” that envisioned $1 trillion in direct federal spending — five times what Trump will propose.

Many Republicans, meanwhile, are leery of any new spending, particularly in the wake of the passage last year of a $1.5 trillion tax-cut plan and last week’s budget agreement that will pump more than $500 billion in additional money into domestic agencies and the Pentagon over two years, the biggest increase in spending in almost a decade.

Trump, who is trying to turn the page after a week of turmoil surrounding allegations of spousal abuse against two male aides, plans to tout his infrastructure plan on Monday morning at a White House event with state and local officials.

Aides say in coming weeks he will travel around the country to highlight both the need for new infrastructure projects and instances when states and localities have crafted the kind of projects that his administration is trying to stimulate more broadly.

Of the proposed $200 billion in federal spending over the coming decade, half would be used to create an incentives program to reward states and localities that invest more in infrastructure projects. The money would be doled out on a competitive basis, with awards that amount to up to 20 percent of a project’s cost, aides said.

To qualify, state and local governments would have to be willing to raise new revenue for their projects. White House aides offered several examples, including increases in property taxes or sales taxes or an increase in tolls or other user fees.

In addition, $50 billion in federal money would be directed to rural infrastructure programs; the funds would be distributed to governors through block grants.

An additional $20 billion would be spent on “transformative” projects, such as plans to build tunnels for high-speed trains.

The remaining $30 billion would be used to significantly expand loan programs, for private-activity bonds and for a capitalfinancing fund. Those provisions are likely to draw more support.