Editorial: Perfect Yields to Good

Studying the issues, analyzing them, knowing your own mind and then working earnestly to convince others is a worthwhile pursuit. At the same time, it’s also necessary to do those things within the context of a sound understanding of broad political reality.

With Congress and the Obama administration showing real signs of movement on major transportation issues, we find it necessary to broaden our list of preferences on how to fund this activity. We remain convinced that taxes on diesel fuel and gasoline are the best way to finance work on the nation’s erupting roster of needed surface transportation projects, but at this point the debate should also include pretty good and not just perfect.

Coming out of the American Trucking Associations leadership meeting in Arizona, an ATA task force that has been meeting since March offered an expanded menu of worthwhile options, including:

• Indexing the current fuel taxes based on inflation and improvements in fuel efficiency. Per-gallon taxes have been losing purchasing power over time because of inflation and the fact that trucks and cars are more efficient than years ago.

• Issuance of Treasury bonds subsidized with revenue from indexing the fuel tax as a similar or related option.

• Proceeds from repatriation of overseas corporate profits. Cutting but not eliminating the tax rate here would encourage companies to bring some of this money home.

• A new annual highway-access fee for all motorists, operating like a larger vehicle registration fee.

• Use of royalties from new oil and gas leases, and/or a per-barrel tax on oil whether imported or domestic. This would be similar to a tax on refined petroleum but at a different stage of the supply chain.

Congress already has acted and sent a bipartisan water transportation bill to the White House. President Obama and Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx have put forth a surface transportation plan, as has the Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee, although the House of Representatives has yet to follow up.

Some smart political handicappers say surface transportation won’t move this year but that 2015 shows potential. Whether a deal is cut this year or next, trucking needs to have a place at the negotiating table, and that means the industry has to be able to talk seriously about financing infrastructure.

On the Senate plan for instance, we would like to see something more than just six years of status-quo spending with increases only for inflation. To get that, though, would certainly mean relying on more than just motor fuel taxes.