AASHTO Journal, 30 January 2015
House Speaker John Boehner said he considers finding revenue for a long-term highway bill “critically important,” and said lawmakers are looking into raising the money for it through tax changes and other unspecified options.
Boehner, R-Ohio, made the comments in a segment of CBS’ “60 Minutes” program that aired Jan. 25. He was interviewed alongside Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., about policy areas where the Republican leaders will work with or resist President Obama.
Speaker Boehner (left) and Senate Majority Leader McConnell in their “60 Minutes” interview. Photo / Speaker’s OfficeThe CBS reporter noted people at the White House had said “that one of the areas they thought there was a chance for progress is on infrastructure in this country; roads and bridges.”
Boehner said, “We agree.” He added: “The biggest problem I have is that the Highway Trust Fund, which is funded by gasoline taxes, continues to shrink as cars get more and better mileage standards. And so the money that’s in the Highway Trust Fund isn’t sufficient to meet the infrastructure needs of the country.”
The reporter suggested they could address the problem by raising federal motor fuel taxes for the first time in decades.
Boehner: “Well, listen. When the Democrats controlled the House, the Senate and the White House, they couldn’t increase the gas tax. We believe that through tax reform, a couple of other options that are being looked at, we can find the funds to fund a long-term highway bill. It’s critically important to the country.”
On Jan. 26, the AAA motor club association, the American Trucking Associations and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce delivered a joint letter to members of Congress urging them to hike motor fuel taxes as the most direct way to shore up the trust fund. They also called the fuel tax a “user fee.”
“Rather than continuing to resort to short-term funding patches that only delay tough decisions, our organizations support action to address the issue pragmatically, immediately and sustainably,” said the groups that represent users of the highway system – car drivers, truckers and corporations that need a reliable transportation system so commuters can get to work and businesses can ship goods.
“While no one wants to pay more,” they said in the letter to Congress, “we urge you to support an increase to the federal fuels user fee, provided the funds are used to ease congestion and improve safety, because it is the most cost efficient and straightforward way to provide a steady revenue stream to the Highway Trust Fund.”
The associations also touched on some of the issues that Bud Wright, executive director of the Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, raised in a recent opinion article about the costs of avoiding investments to improve highway and transit networks. In that op-ed, which was carried in the national trucking publication Transport Topics, Wright did not propose any revenue measure but said Congress has a chance to build muscle for the U.S. economy.
The industry groups told Congress that “Americans are frustrated with our nation’s crumbling infrastructure, including increasingly congested highways and deficient roads and bridges. Thirty-two percent of major roads are in poor or mediocre condition. This neglect costs the average driver $324 each year in additional vehicle repairs and operating costs.”
Two days later, a coalition of conservative advocacy groups sent lawmakers a countering letter “to express our strong opposition to legislation that includes an increase to the federal gas tax.”
A group of signers that included Americans for Tax Reform, Club for Growth and 48 others wrote that a gas tax hike would disproportionately fall on lower- and middle-income Americans.
The signers also urged Congress to alter how transportation funds are now spent, complaining that “over one-third of HTF spending today is for non-highway purposes” that include transit and bike paths.
Rather than seeking more revenue from taxpayers, they wrote, “Congress should seek an alternate solution that properly prioritizes federal transportation infrastructure needs, reduces costly and time consuming bureaucratic hurdles, and further empowers state and local governments in conjunction with the private sector.”