Federal Gas Tax

The Washington Post editorializes against the use of general funds to fill the Highway Trust Fund shortfall ($18 billion annually), whether they be dedicated funds or offsets, and evaluates proposals from President Barack Obama and House Republicans.

June 6, 2014 - The Washington Post - Opinions

It's time to fund federal transportation like most other nations do—rely less on highway user fees that dedicate funds to highways and transition to funding roads from the general fund, perhaps in the same amount that they contribute to GDP.

June 3, 2014 - The New York Times - Opinion

Plenty, according to Tanya Snyder, Streetsblog USA editor, who finds Obama's Grow America plan far superior. Outside of not including a gas tax to fill the Trust Fund gap, she finds the proposal "underfunded and highway centric." She is not alone.

May 15, 2014 - Streetsblog USA

Last Thursday, House and Senate leaders announced agreement on an $8.2 billion waterways infrastructure bill, and if they have their way, it won't be their last major agreement. On Monday, a successor highway bill (to MAP-21) will be released.

May 13, 2014 - The Hill

While tolling will not fill the Highway Trust Fund gap, it can finance improvements for specific interstate highways that would otherwise be funded by a sustainable trust fund, not one approaching insolvency. Why not allow states the option to toll?

April 7, 2014 - The New York Times - U.S.

State transportation leaders are scrambling to increase funding as MAP-21 draws to its expiration on Oct. 1. Interstate tolling is being eyed by more than a few. While the Wisconsin Assembly likes the idea, Gov. Scott Walker rejects it.

March 10, 2014 - Stateline

At a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee meeting on Feb. 12, leaders from big labor, big business, AASHTO, and AMTRAK testified to the importance of keeping the Highway Trust Fund solvent. The first two specified increasing the gas tax.

February 14, 2014 - The Hill

While road usage fee advocates may be celebrating this key endorsement of what many transportation experts view as the inevitable funding option, Streetsblog's Tanya Snyder is calling it a setback because of what else Rep. Bill Shuster did on Feb 4.

February 7, 2014 - Streetsblog USA

From Republican congressman from Ill. to President Obama's first Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHood now takes on a new role as a co-chair of the bipartisan coalition, Building America's Future, to advocate for increased infrastructure investment.

January 15, 2014 - AASHTO Journal

The Washington Post editorial pulled no punches. The Highway Trust Fund must be fully funded, meaning that gas taxes must increase in the short term. Furthermore, a transition to a road usage fee is needed, and Rep. Earl Blumenauer's 2 bills do both.

December 30, 2013 - The Washington Post - Editorial

As we inexorably approach the day the Highway Trust Fund goes broke, more policy experts offer creative alternatives to the per gallon gasoline tax. Michael Webber of the Energy Institute at UT Austin describes his option in a New York Times op-ed.

December 27, 2013 - The New York Times - Opinion

Yes - the nonprofit organization representing 53 million motorists in the U.S. and Canada sees value in raising the gas tax to improve the nation's roads, bridges and transit systems. UPS, a major road user, agrees. But there are many detractors.

December 10, 2013 - The Washington Post

If it was good enough for Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles, the Republican and Democrat authors of President Obama's deficit commission bearing their names, the phased, 15-cent fuel tax increase should be adopted, says Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.).

December 4, 2013 - The Hill's Transportation Blog

Make that a 'defunding' bill, technically described as a devolution bill. The concept is simple: roll back the federal gas tax to 3.7 cents per gallon, shift transportation responsibility to the states and use block grants to provide federal funding.

November 18, 2013 - The Hill's Transportation and Infrastructure Blog

Freed from the political constraints of holding a cabinet position, former Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood told a university audience that the increase is necessary to meet multi-modal infrastructure needs, not just road construction.

October 24, 2013 - WAMU

Could Virginia, the state that did away with its gasoline excise tax entirely, be the template for a new federal transportation funding system? By using multiple taxes and fees, they present an alternative to simply raising the federal gas tax.

October 23, 2013 - CQ Roll Call

Taking a cue from states that have introduced new wholesale taxes on fuel that would presumably be passed to the consumer, Sen. Barbara Boxer has proposed replacing the 18.4-cent federal gas tax with an oil sales fee to be paid by oil refineries.

October 1, 2013 - The Hill

The transportation bill known as MAP-21 expires in a little more than a year, but the key interest groups and political players are already staking out their positions. The posturing is compounded by the worsening state of the Highway Trust Fund.

September 20, 2013 - Politico Pro

In this opinion piece on how to pay for roads, Noel Popwell gives 5 reasons for switching from gas tax to vehicle-miles-traveled (VMT) fee revenue collection - even if the Highway Trust Fund wasn't facing insolvency next year. Obama is opposed to it.

August 18, 2013 - Streetsblog Capitol Hill

Ryan Holeywell writes a follow-up to the meeting of a House Transportation subcommittee on the impending insolvency of the Highway Trust Fund - looking at it from the states' perspective rather than from Capitol Hill's. They have a lot at stake.

July 31, 2013 - Governing