Watch Live: ATA’s Graves Testifying at Ways and Means’ Trust Fund Hearing
Bill Graves, president of American Trucking Associations, is testifying today before the House Ways and Means Committee for a hearing on the Highway Trust Fund. The hearing began at 10 a.m. EDT.
With transportation funding authority set to expire July 31, lawmakers are scrambling to find a long-term fix for the trust fund.
Graves, one of three witnesses scheduled to appear before the panel, will be representing the transportation and freight sectors.
The trucking industry is among several transportation stakeholders that favor increasing federal fuel taxes to fund infrastructure projects. Receipts from diesel and gas taxes are used to back the trust fund.
In a few months, the trust fund is projected to run dangerously low on money, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream
The Ways and Means panel has jurisdiction over the trust fund, and the panel’s chairman, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), has stressed his opposition to raising fuel taxes as a way to sustain the trust fund.
Also testifying at the hearing are Chad Shirley, deputy assistant director of the Microeconomic Studies Team and the Congressional Budget Office; and Robert Poole, director of transportation policy at the Reason Foundation.
An hour prior to the hearing, Oregon Democrat Earl Blumenauer, a member on Ways and Means, will hold a press conference to call for a fuel tax increase. He will be joined by senior officials from ATA, the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, and the American Society of Civil Engineers, among other groups.
