Heritage Foundation Endorses Devolution to Fund Highway Projects
[Stay on top of transportation news: Get TTNews in your inbox.]
The Heritage Foundation is not a fan of increasing the federal gas tax.
“In reality, the gas tax is not a user fee, it is a dishonest ploy to raise taxes on all Americans and allow the size and scope of the federal government to grow unchecked,” experts with the Washington think tank wrote in the recently released, “Paying for Surface Transportation Infrastructure: Four Wrong Routes, Four Good Paths.”
The organization's stance is contrary to what nearly every transportation and infrastructure stakeholder has endorsed over the years.
American Trucking Associations has proposed the Build America Fund, calling for a 20-cents-per-gallon fee on motor fuels collected at the wholesale rack. Phased in over four years at 5 cents per year, ATA indicated the fund would generate approximately $340 billion in about 10 years.
Mulero
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce supports increasing the federal fuel tax. The business group’s answer to the national funding dilemma is a 25 cents-per-gallon fuel tax increase over five years.
Besides objecting to raising the 24.4 cents-per-gallon diesel tax and 18.4 cents-per-gallon gas tax, a vehicle-miles-traveled fee would be no good because tracking the movement of every vehicle would be costly and intrusive. “Many older cars will never be compatible with GPS. In addition, there are serious privacy concerns surrounding a demand for location data on every single vehicle if a dynamic GPS system were made mandatory.” Also not making the cut would be a carbon tax, as well as draining the strategic petroleum reserve, the group concluded.
The proper course of action for Congress would be devolving the federal government’s functions to state agencies. Across the transportation community, this concept is better known as: Devolution.
“Congress should end all subsidies for state roads immediately.” Through devolution, state-level agencies would be empowered and the federal gas tax would eventually decrease.
Heritage also expressed support for new tolling on interstates, undoing federal regulations inconvenient to private investors, and eliminating “non-road diversions from the [Highway Trust Fund] as soon as possible.”
David Ditch, a budget and transportation associate in the Grover M. Hermann Center for the Federal Budget at Heritage, and one of the report’s authors, acknowledged the aversion among congressional leaders for changing the status quo.
“I understand why there is trepidation from people who want to work within the current system, but there is a lot of potential in reforms,” he told Transport Topics last week.
The leadership in the House and Senate, and the White House have abandoned talks this year on comprehensive infrastructure funding policy. Next month, a Senate panel intends to consider legislation that would reauthorize aspects of a 2015 highway law. Resolving the looming insolvency of the Highway Trust Fund account, which relies on dwindling revenue from the fuel tax, will not be on the panel’s agenda Aug. 1. The 2015 law, known as the FAST Act, expires in the fall of 2020, just before the general election.
There is little optimism the highway law’s update will reach the president’s desk before then. As Ditch put it, “I think anyone who follows Congress for any length of time recognizes that they rarely, rarely get things done anything sooner than the absolute last second and often times they have to kick the can.”
The Week Ahead (all times Eastern)
Spotlight Hearing
July 24, 10:30 a.m.: Hear directly from President Trump’s nominees for some of the most powerful transportation posts in the country. The Senate Commerce Committee has scheduled a hearing to evaluate the qualifications of:
• Todd Rokita to be on Amtrak’s board of directors.
• Carl Bentzel to be a commissioner of the Federal Maritime Commission
• Michael Kratsios to be an associate director at the Office of Science and Technology Policy
• Michael Graham to serve on the National Transportation Safety Board
• Jennifer Homendy was nominated to continue to serve on NTSB
July 22, 9 a.m.: The Washington Post’s Robert Costa interviews Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.).
July 22, 12:15 p.m.: The U.S. Chamber Technology Engagement Center hosts a briefing on drones.
July 22, 3 p.m.: The House Environment Subcommittee hosts a meeting titled, “Weathering the Storm: Improving Hurricane Resiliency through Research.”
July 23, 9:30 a.m.: The National Transportation Safety Board reviews a Feb. 4, 2018, rail accident in South Carolina. Live stream at http://www.ntsb.gov
July 23-24: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce hosts its eighth annual public-private partnerships conference.
July 23, 2:15 p.m.: The Senate Science, Oceans, Fisheries, and Weather Subcommittee meets for a hearing titled, “America’s Waterfronts: Addressing Economic, Recreational, and Environmental Challenges.”
July 23, 3 p.m.: The House Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Subcommittee examines episodes of Jeffrey Epstein.
July 23, 7 p.m.: Politics and Prose Bookstore hosts a discussion with Joy-Ann Reid, host of MSNBC’s “AM Joy.”
Mueller
July 24, 8:30 a.m.: The House Judiciary Committee meets for a hearing with former Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
July 24, 10 a.m.: The House Budget Committee examines the potential costs of climate change.
July 24, 10:30 a.m.: The House Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee meets for a hearing titled, “Legislation to Make Cars in America Safer.”
July 24, 6:30 p.m.: The National Press Club hosts Politico’s Tim Alberta, author of, “American Carnage: On the Front Lines of the Republican Civil War and the Rise of President Trump.”
July 25, 8:20 a.m.: The Brookings Institution examines autonomous vehicle technology.
July 25, 10 a.m.: The House Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee hosts a roundtable with industry stakeholders.
July 25, 2 p.m.: The Highways and Transit Subcommittee hosts a hearing on school bus safety.
July 25, 7 p.m.: The Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital hosts a discussion with The New York Times’ Carl Hulse.
Mood Swings
As reported, a debate about infrastructure funding policy is missing on Capitol Hill. Nevertheless, a Senate panel’s markup of a comprehensive surface transportation bill on Aug. 1 has piqued stakeholders’ interest.
In Case You Missed It
Oil! Venezuela’s black gold continues to drive the region’s narrative.
What’s New (Amazonification edition)
The future home of Amazon H2Q in Northern Virginia across the river from the nation’s capital is not the only area in the state set to undergo drastic infrastructure changes. Officials intend to upgrade the commuter and freight corridors up and down Interstate 95 from the Woodrow Wilson Bridge in Alexandria, Va., to the North Carolina border. Two public meetings are scheduled on July 23 and July 25 in Fredericksburg and Petersburg, respectively. The public may submit comments through Aug. 21 via: VA95corridorplan@vdot.virginia.gov.
Buzz
Responding to a questionnaire from the Senate Commerce Committee, NTSB’s Jennifer Homendy wrote that, as a teenager in March 1990, she was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of shoplifting.
Favorite Video
The voice of a generation: Bad Bunny leads a political movement in Puerto Rico.
Favorite Tweet
The original moonwalk
Imagine my delight when I drove by the #WashingtonMonument and saw our rocket projected on its exterior for the #ApolloXI 50th Anniversary. #welldone https://t.co/oehrhecSNx pic.twitter.com/0rENwTZLwc — Buzz Aldrin (@TheRealBuzz) July 19, 2019
The Last Word
It was a monumental legislative failure off the box and wasted a ton of political capital the president could have spent on tax cuts and infrastructure rather than on a divisive issue like that.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie speaking on ABC’s “This Week” on July 14 on Republicans’ insistance to pursue health care policy at the expense of infrastructure in 2017.
We publish weekly when Congress is in session. E-mail emulero@ttnews.com with tips. Follow us @eugenemulero and @transporttopics.
