FYI. Scrap the Highway Trust Fund -- think tank
Published: Wednesday, December 3, 2014 Get rid of the Highway Trust Fund and pay for transportation projects with money routed through the regular congressional appropriations process. That's one option explored in a new report that in essence describes the trust fund -- created almost 60 years ago to pay for construction of the now complete Interstate Highway System -- as ready for the budgetary scrap heap. As a viable mechanism for financing transportation needs, the trust fund "has run its course," says the authors of the report by the Eno Center for Transportation, a nonpartisan think tank. "It is a system that's going down," Joshua Schank, the center's president and CEO, added at a forum this morning at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., marking the report's release. Flagging fuel tax receipts, for example, mean that the fund has needed more than $65 billion in general tax revenue since 2008, with the most recent bailout receiving congressional approval in July, one day before Transportation Department officials had planned to begin rationing reimbursements to states. That extension expires at the end of May, meaning a fresh crisis could arise just before the onset of the summer construction season. Much of the fund's revenue, moreover, is doled out under a formula geared to ensure that states get back close to what they contribute in fuel tax revenue, not whether the money's going to where it would provide the biggest returns. The fund currently ensures more than $50 billion annually for road, bridge and transit projects. Although abolishing the current framework may seem like a drastic step, "it may not be as terrifying as the current road we're going on," Schank said. Subjecting road and transit funding to the yearly appropriations process could add more uncertainty, but he predicted that lawmakers would be reluctant to cut spending. The report also looks at how Canada, Japan and three other developed nations pay for surface transportation needs. While none uses the trust fund approach, per capita spending in all five is at least equal to -- or far exceeds -- what the United States spends. The report also looks at two other options: codifying the current hybrid system that mingles fuel tax receipts and general fund revenues; or matching transportation spending to available fuel tax revenue, either by cutting spending or raising taxes. At a separate event this morning at the Capitol, Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) and Tom Petri (R-Wis.) called on Congress to raise the federal gas tax, which has stood at 18.4 cents per gallon since 1993. Included at the news conference was a cutout of the late President Reagan, who used a 1982 Thanksgiving Day address to urge an increase at the time. "We all use our roads, bridges, and rail, whether we're Republicans or Democrats, rural or urban," Blumenauer said, according to a news release. "Reagan also knew that the gas tax is actually a user fee, which means that those who use the roads the most are the ones paying for them." The event marked the anniversary of the introduction of Blumenauer's bill H.R. 3636 <http://www.eenews.net/bills/113/House/120114095412.pdf> to boost the tax by 15 cents over three years and index it to inflation thereafter. The legislation, which never got a hearing in the House Ways and Means Committee, will die at the end of this term. Petri, who leads the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, signed on as a co-sponsor this week but is retiring in January. Thus far, lawmakers have not even managed to open a formal discussion on how to shore up transportation financing. Following requests from Democrats, Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) said in July he would schedule a hearing on "a long-term solution" for the trust fund woes. No hearing has thus far been held, and Camp is also retiring after this year. A spokeswoman did not reply to an email sent yesterday seeking comment on his plans. _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com All posts are the result of individual contributors and as such, those individuals are responsible for the content of the post. The list owner has no control over the content of the messages of each contributor.
