White House Stays Neutral on Fuel Tax Hike, Infrastructure Adviser D.J. Gribbin Says
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is sticking with its neutral stance on whether to increase federal fuel taxes to finance big-scale transportation projects, the White House’s infrastructure policy adviser said Dec. 12.
“It hasn’t changed,” D.J. Gribbin told Transport Topics when asked if President Donald Trump would support increasing federal fuel taxes. Gribbin had just finished addressing the Hudson Institute. “Our position has not changed.”
Last week, Gribbin affirmed the Trump White House had not immediately ruled out an increase to the gas and diesel taxes. Since 1993, the federal tax on diesel has been 24.4 cents per gallon, while the gas tax has been 18.4 cents per gallon.
“We’ve sort of been neutral on it,” Gribbin told CQ Roll Call’s Jacob Fischler on Dec. 6. “It’s really, really hard to raise the gas tax.”
Speaking to Bloomberg earlier this year, Trump suggested raising fuel taxes would be a helpful way to solve the looming funding crisis for the country’s infrastructure. A White House spokesman would go on to walk back the president’s remarks.
White House officials are saying infrastructure funding negotiations are expected to kick off next month. Trump failed to follow through on his pledge to deliver an infrastructure plan during his first 100 days in office.
A blueprint of Trump’s vision for the country’s infrastructure funding parameters over the next decade proposes using $200 billion from existing federal accounts to incentivize $800 billion from private investors.
Transportation leaders on Capitol Hill are pushing back on White House proposals that would overlook rural freight and commuter corridors, as well as shift many funding obligations to state agencies. Among Congress’ raison d’être is to help provide and maintain infrastructure, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) says repeatedly. Shuster met with Trump on Dec. 11.
Nearly every highway user in the freight and construction sectors, as well as most major businesses, have called on Congress and the White House to raise taxes on fuel. The GOP leadership controlling the House and Senate have opposed raising the fuel tax, primarily due to a promise made to Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform.
A tax overhaul advancing through Capitol Hill leaves out the looming insolvency to the Highway Trust Fund. The authorization for the account, which relies on revenue from the gas and diesel tax, expires in 2020.
