Fuel Tax Should Rise 10 Cents, Says Former Transportation Secretary LaHood

Former Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Oct. 16 that Congress should raise fuel taxes 10 cents and index them in order to raise money to meet the nation’s transportation needs.

If fuel taxes had been indexed in 1993, the last time they were increased, “we wouldn’t be having this debate” over transportation funding, LaHood said.

The former secretary spoke at a gathering at George Mason University in Arlington, Va., sponsored by Mobility Lab, a transportation advocacy group.

“The Highway Trust Fund is a good source of funding,” he said. “Bite the bullet, make a hard vote, increase the gas tax and index it. You raise a lot of money doing that, and you have the resources to implement a comprehensive approach to transportation. That’s what we need to do.”

The debate over the next transportation bill, which Congress is to begin next year, will be about paying for transportation, said LaHood, who retired to private life in June.

However, the trust fund will not have enough money, even with higher fuel taxes, to meet the country’s infrastructure needs, he said.

“Take a look at what VMTs might create, vehicle miles traveled. Use public-private partnerships, use tolling,” he said in calling for an investment large enough to boost business investment and create jobs.  “All of these things raise money, but you got to have a big pot of money. We don’t have it now.”

LaHood said Congress passed only a two-year transportation bill last year, MAP-21, because lawmakers could only find $109 billion in funding.

“We need a $500 [billion] or $600 billion transportation program,” LaHood said. “Politicians have got to come to grips with this idea that we need the resources. If America’s going to be No. 1 in infrastructure, we need the resources to do what all of us know needs to be done.”