Rep. Jeff Denham: ‘Get Creative on Multiple Solutions’ to Fund Highway Bill

WASHINGTON — A multiyear highway bill would need to include outside-the-box funding proposals for a broad coalition in Congress to support it this year, Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.), a top transportation authorizer in the House, said Feb. 24.

“My focus is making sure that we don’t just have a patch; we don’t have a quick fix. I know everybody is talking about repatriation. That is something that could be helpful in funding a five-year or six-year bill. But then we’re still stuck in the same situation. I’m hopeful we can get creative on multiple solutions,” Denham said at the National Association of Counties’ legislative conference on Capitol Hill.

He suggested using oil royalties to back a long-term plan. “Here’s an opportunity to use a different type of revenue and really have a discussion about fixing today’s problem," Denham said. But legislation that would index fuel taxes is unlikely to advance through the GOP-led Congress, he added.

Trucking leaders and executives from major industries have told Congress they would pay additional fuel taxes if it meant improving aging roads and bridges. Officials at the conference said they need a reliable federal partner to help pay for big-ticket projects. 

“No great nation on this earth has ever, ever succeeded by building its infrastructure six months at a time. And that’s what we’ve been doing, six months, three months, nine-month patch — that’s not how you build a great nation,” said Peter McLaughlin, commissioner of Hennepin County in Minnesota. “And if we’re going to move people, goods and materiel, if we’re going to have strong communities, and if we’re going to stay economically competitive in the world, we’ve got to have strong infrastructure.”

Funding authority for highway programs ends when a 2012 transportation law expires May 31, and congressional transportation leaders have yet to unveil a transportation plan. They also have not endorsed the Obama administration’s six-year, $478 billion plan, which would be paid for through reforms of the corporate tax code. About half of that plan would be financed with revenue from a one-time 14% tax on earnings U.S. corporations have kept overseas.

Federal fuel taxes are no longer a sufficient source of revenue to sustain the Highway Trust Fund, an account that aids states with road projects.