Boehner: ‘Doubtful’ House Has Votes to Raise Gas Tax
Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) told reporters Jan. 8 he does not think there is sufficient support in his chamber to approve an increase to the federal fuel tax.
“When the Democrats had total control of the Congress, they couldn’t find the votes to raise the gas tax. It’s doubtful that the votes are here to raise the gas tax, again,” Boehner said, during his weekly meeting with reporters on Capitol Hill.
He acknowledged there is a need to fund the country’s “crumbling infrastructure” through a long-term program. But Boehner stopped short of saying what funding system he would support to pay for such a multiyear highway bill.
“I never voted to raise the gas tax. Funding a highway bill is critically important. It’s a priority for this year. How we’ll fund it, we’ll have to work our way through this,” he said.
Asked if he backed transportation funding proposals offered by members of Congress, Boehner added: “There are a lot of people with a lot of ideas.”
Transportation leaders are scrambling to reauthorize a 2012 highway law that expires in May. Congress extended that law’s authority, which was set to expire in September, by approving a nearly $11 billion transfer into the Highway Trust Fund through what’s known as “pension smoothing.” That budget maneuver allows companies to delay pension contributions and pay more in taxes. Congressional hearings on reauthorizing surface transportation programs could begin as early as next month, according to Hill aides.
For years, highway programs had been sustained through taxes on gas and diesel fuels. But revenue from those taxes has not been enough to maintain the trust fund. The national tax on gas and diesel has not been raised since 1993.
