Oregon Congressman to Again Propose Higher Fuel Taxes to Pay for Roads
The bill would add 15 cents over three years to the 18.4-cent gasoline tax and 24.4-cent diesel tax.
Under the proposal, the levies also would be indexed to inflation, and Congress would “confirm” its intent to replace fuel taxes with what Blumenauer said would be a “more equitable, stable source of funding” by 2024.
Blumenauer’s Jan. 15 announcement said he would introduce the bill, which died in the last Congress, in early February.
Congress has failed to pass long-term transportation funding plans for years, meaning that since 1997 lawmakers have resorted to 21 temporary funding extensions, Blumenauer said.
That includes the temporary extension of MAP-21 last summer to save the Highway Trust Fund from insolvency. MAP 21 is the two-year funding plan approved in 2012. Its extension will expire May 31.
Short reauthorizations combined with $100 billion in borrowing from the general fund “barely prop up” the funding system for transportation, Blumenauer said.
“No great country was built or economic recovery secured by planning and funding its infrastructure six months at a time,” he said in his announcement.
The Oregon congressman also said he believes the drop in fuel prices to the lowest levels in years makes this an opportune time to raise fuel levies.
Blumenauer cited recent statements by some in the Senate that they may be open to higher fuel taxes.
On the House side, however, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said lawmakers there will not raise gas taxes. The same was said by Transportation Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Penn.) and most recently by Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.)
