EE News:
Advisory panel expected to put gas tax increase plan before House
committee
Alex Kaplun, E&E Daily reporter
A House panel is poised to open a debate this week into increasing the
federal gas tax as a means for funneling additional dollars toward
bridge repairs, highway construction and other transportation
projects.
The House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee will hold a
hearing Thursday to examine a report from the National Surface
Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission, which is expected
to outline a series of recommendations for improving the country’s
transportation infrastructure.
The report will not be formally released until tomorrow morning but
reports late last week indicate that the majority of the 12-member
panel will endorse raising the gas tax to pay for a wide range of
transportation initiatives. The size of the proposed increase to the
18.4 cent per gallon tax remains unclear and could range from as
little as a dime or as much as a quarter per gallon.
Three members of the panel – including Transportation Secretary Mary
Peters – are expected to oppose the increase. The Bush administration
has consistently opposed any boost to the gas tax, arguing that it is
an inefficient way to pay for future transportation projects.
Still, several key lawmakers in the last couple years have said that
Congress should explore increasing the tax to inject extra dollars
into federal transportation funds that are failing to keep up with the
nation’s needs. But the idea has yet to gain any significant traction
on Capitol Hill.
In the wake of last summer’s Minnesota bridge collapse, T&I Committee
Chairman Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.) proposed a temporary five-cent gas tax
increase to repair and replace bridges across the United States. The
increase would sunset after three years and raise roughly $25 billion
over that period.
Oberstar’s plan never made it out of committee before the end of the
last session of Congress. It remains to be seen whether he will try to
revive a similar plan this year.
But one influential Republican has already come out against any
proposal to increase the gas tax, saying that it would place an extra
burden on consumers without substantially increasing federal
transportation dollars.
“This is a disappointment and probably even a big waste of tax
dollars. A special commission came up with an old, cold, bad idea,”
said Senate Finance Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).
“Raising the gas tax puts the brunt of the long-term trust fund
expenses on automobile drivers, when diesel trucks and other heavy
vehicles also use the highways.”
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
2167 Rayburn
17/01/2008 at 11:00AM