Foxx Says Fuel Tax Increase Is Not Needed
WASHINGTON — Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said the Obama administration still believes there is a better way to raise the money needed to upgrade the nation’s highway infrastructure than to raise the federal fuel tax.
Private investment and corporate tax reform are preferable ways to come up with money, Foxx said at the second annual Transportation Summit of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Feb. 20.
“In my view, we should stop aiming just to get the Highway Trust Fund level again,” Foxx said. “We should aim to cut into a bigger piece of the infrastructure deficit.”
The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the fund could be insolvent by the end of the fiscal year, which is Sept. 30. Foxx said that Rep. David Camp (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, is preparing to publish a corporate tax reform plan.
Foxx said that the American Society of Civil Engineers has estimated that the United States’ overall infrastructure needs are $3.6 trillion by the year 2020, although that figure includes other aspects such as water systems and airports.
