What if large American businesses could get something that’s been on their political agenda for years and it meant more money to invest in the country’s roads and bridges, as well as energy and communications networks?

Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., has introduced such a bill, the Partnership to Build America Act, and is among dozens of sponsors in both houses of Congress.

“This is a way to move the ball forward and improve our infrastructure a little bit,” said Matt Haase, district office director in the senator’s Kansas City office. He spoke at a legislative briefing Friday sponsored by the Independence and Blue Springs chambers of commerce.

American multinational companies have trillions of dollars of overseas earnings, money subject to U.S. taxes if brought home. So much of the money stays overseas, and while the companies lobby for lower taxes, they say that’s money they could invest in the U.S. or return to shareholders.

The Partnership to Build America Act offers an alternative: The companies could bring money home if they agree to invest some of it in 50-year, low-interest infrastructure bonds. The effect would be a lower tax rate.

The bonds would create a new fund – with the government putting in no money – that provides loans or guarantees to state or local governments to pay for schools, transportation, water projects, communications, and energy projects.

“This is a tool in the tool box,” Haase cautioned. “This isn’t going to solve all our infrastructure needs.”

Also Friday:

• Speakers touched on the Veterans Administration controversy.

“Claire’s anxious to get the inspector general’s report,” said Corey Dillon, senior regional director for Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.

One veteran said the federal government made a mistake years ago when it deemed some veterans as too well off to qualify for decent access to VA care.

“That’s an issue that should be fixed,” said Tom Brown, chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo., whose district includes almost all of the state north of the Missouri River as well as parts of Blue Springs and Independence.

• Blunt wants to block any new EPA rules on coal unless those can be shown to not raise business costs or cut jobs, Haase said.

• Independence City Manager Robert Heacock made the case for the Main Street Fairness Act. The argument is this: Sales over the Internet are not taxed (consumers are supposed to pay sales tax, but there’s no enforcement, and few pay).

The result is a disadvantage for local retailers, who do have to collect the tax. Shoppers will often window shop at a local store and then rush home to buy their items online. The loss of sales taxes hurts schools and local and state governments.

“It seems like everyone should pay the same tax and be on the same playing field,” Heacock said.

The aides to Blunt, McCaskill and Graves all said their bosses support the bill, and Haase said support has been building and it will likely be passed at some point.

State Rep. Ira Anders had a word of caution: Local business owners and elected officials understand the problem – but surveys consistently show voters hate the idea of a tax on Internet sales.

“It’s educating the public,” he said. “This is going to ruin mom-and-pop stores.”

• Dillon noted that this week her boss had TV personality Dr. Mehmet Oz before the Senate Consumer Protection Subcommittee, which McCaskill chairs.

The senator asked Oz a lot of tough questions.

“She did not hold back her frustration about the scams and made clear there’s no pill you can take to lose weight,” Dillon said.

• On the Affordable Care Act, “It’s doing well in some areas, and it’s not doing well in some issues, and I think it’s not clear where it’s going to go,” Brown said.

• On Iraq, “I don’t think there could be a more complex issue than this issue,” Brown said.

• Brown said one issue that always shows up in constituent concerns, regardless of whether it’s in the news, is illegal immigration. He took issue with the Obama administration’s decision to spend $2 billion to deal with an influx of tens of thousands of children coming into Texas from Central America and Mexico in recent months. Some have called that a humanitarian crisis.

Some attending Friday’s meeting had suggestions – troops on the border, some sort of Ellis Island type of facility – but the speakers cautioned that it’s complex issue.

“Sending troops to the border will not solve the problem totally,” Brown said.

Dillon pointed out one of the bigger problems in getting people to immigrate legally: The government is 15 to 20 years behind in processing applications.

“There’s almost no incentive to wait,” she said.