Sen. Hatch: Hopeful For a Trust Fund Fix by May 31
WASHINGTON — Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said tax policy writers in the Senate are “working behind the scenes” to unveil a plan that would ensure long-term funding for highway programs, before a law authorizing such funding expires May 31.
“Yes, I intend to hopefully get that resolved by that time, if we can. But, I have to admit there is not a lot of options. … it’s very, very difficult to find the money,” Hatch, chairman of the tax-writing Finance Committee, told Transport Topics March 10. “There are no simple answers there. We’re going to come up with it one way or the other.”
Hatch said his panel’s top Democrat, Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, and his House counterpart, Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), are working with him to figure out a way to boost funding for highway programs.
“We just have to see what we can do,” Hatch added.
The tax committees are tasked with finding a way to pay for a long-term highway policy bill that would update a 2012 transportation law that expires at the end of May. Transportation observers critical of lawmakers suggest that repatriating corporate profits or transferring money from the General Fund would provide a short-term fix for a highway account used to help states with funding.
Not knowing if the Highway Trust Fund account would provide sufficient backing, officials in Delaware, Tennessee and Arkansas have delayed work on highway projects this year.
