Trump’s Vow to Fix ‘Third-World’ U.S. Airports Is Hurt by Tax Bill

Nov. 17, 2017

President Donald Trump has compared landing at Los Angeles International and other U.S. airports to arriving in a third-world country. But a provision in the tax bill passed by the House of Representatives would eliminate a tool central to his $1 trillion pledge to upgrade airports and other public works.

The House measure would eliminate a form of tax-exempt debt called private-activity bonds. That would leave Los Angeles World Airports, which runs LAX, with the choice of scaling back projects in its $14 billion modernization plan or finding $500 million in new revenue because of higher borrowing costs, Chief Financial Officer Ryan Yakubik said in a interview.

“Certainly, it had been made clear that infrastructure was a great priority, and that finding ways to do that was important,” Yakubik said. “This doesn’t seem pointed in that direction.”

Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-17/trump-vow-to-fix-third-world-u-s-airports-is-hurt-by-tax-bill