Sen. Orrin Hatch on Highway Funding: ‘I’d Like to Solve This Problem’
Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) on June 18 said he thought it would be difficult for Congress to pass an increase to fuel taxes to pay for new infrastructure projects, but he pledged to fix the funding woes affecting the country’s transportation network.
“I’d like to solve this problem . . . and I’m going to solve it, one way or the other,” Hatch said during a hearing his panel held on highway funding . “I hope we solve it on a multiyear basis, and if I can’t solve it on a long-term basis, I’ll see what I can do.”
At the hearing, Hatch heard from former Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, who urged senators to consider increasing fuel taxes. Raising fuel taxes is a position backed by the trucking industry and other stakeholders.
“Our transportation system is broke,” said LaHood, co-chairman of the infrastructure advocate Building America’s Future. “Don’t think anything should be off the table.”
But Hatch’s sentiment on fuel taxes was shared this week by his House counterpart, Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan, reducing the chances such a move would advance through the GOP-led chambers. The two chairmen are tasked with identifying a long-term fix that would ensure the sustainability of the Highway Trust Fund, an account that helps states finance transportation projects.
Ryan’s committee announced that a subcommittee on select revenue measures plans to hold a hearing June 24 to explore funding options for a long-term transportation bill by issuing a tax on U.S. companies’ earnings held overseas.
Meanwhile, funding authority for transportation programs expires July 31, and Ryan indicated that a transfer this summer from the general Treasury fund to the trust fund — essentially, a short-term extension — seems unavoidable.
Since 2008, Congress has approved the transfer of about $62 billion from the general fund to ensure the trust fund's solvency. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the trust fund is projected to run dangerously low in a couple of months.
