Panel May Call for 40-Cent Gas-Tax Increase
A panel created to recommend ways to fund road construction plans to propose that federal gasoline taxes rise by as much as 40 cents a gallon over five years, Bloomberg reported.
Citing a source with direct knowledge of the proposal, the group will suggest that the current tax of 18.4-cents a gallon rise by 5 to 8 cents annually and be indexed to inflation after the five years, Bloomberg reported late Wednesday.
The National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission is scheduled to release its report Tuesday in Washington. Congress created the panel in 2005 for the purpose of issuing the report, Bloomberg said.
The report may boost efforts by Congress members who have tried unsuccessfully to raise fuel taxes over the objections of President Bush, Bloomberg reported.
The current federal highway funding law expires in 2009, after Bush leaves office.
