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Two U.S. senators propose fuel-tax increase

A Republican and a Democrat in the U.S. Senate are urging a federal commission to recommend a 25-cent increase to gas and diesel taxes in a report to President Obama next month. Sens. George Voinovich, R-OH, and Tom Carper, D-DE, say the money should go to fund infrastructure and to pay down federal deficits.

The senators stated two reasons for their proposal in a letter to the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, a bipartisan presidential commission consisting of current and former lawmakers and policy advisors. The commission is scheduled to release its report in December.

“First, the Highway Trust Fund’s revenue stream is insufficient for current outlays,” the senators wrote. “Second, the existing level of transportation investment is inadequate to maintain our infrastructure and provide for 21st-century improvements.”

Carper and Voinovich said 15 cents of the increase would go directly to the Highway Trust Fund, while 10 cents would be used to pay down federal deficits at first. After enough debt is paid off, the 10-cent portion would be put into the highways account.

Money raised by the tax proposal would remain in a trust account until Congress passes a multiyear highway bill, the senators stated.

OOIDA leadership says the fuel tax remains the fairest and most equitable way to pay for infrastructure.

“The idea of putting money into highways makes a whole lot of sense to us,” said OOIDA Executive Vice President Todd Spencer.

“Obviously the deficit commission comes out with its recommendation next month. We would like to see the Congress focus on a highway bill. The country needs to have a highway bill, and we need a mechanism to fund it.”

The Highway Trust Fund nearly went broke in 2008 and again in 2009, and has required general fund transfers of $34.5 billion since 2008 to keep it afloat.

“These transfers delayed immediate insolvency but did not fix the underlying problem,” Voinovich and Carper stated.

Federal fuel taxes are not currently indexed to inflation. The Carper-Voinovich proposal urges indexing fuel taxes to prevent a future erosion of purchasing power.

Spencer said the Carper-Voinovich proposal is not perfect, but it’s a step in the right direction.

“We hope the leaders in the Congress will get a little bit of inspiration out of this proposal,” he said. “This is a conversation starter, and we need to start the conversation.

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