WASHINGTON -- As the House considers bills that would raise the federal gas tax by anywhere from 10 to 15 cents per gallon (CPG) to prop up the Highway Trust Fund (HTF), the bills will hit a dead end in the Senate even if they pass, according to remarks from its top legislator.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) insisted this week that the Senate would not vote to raise the federal gas tax, said a report at Politico.com.
“Let me just say we’re not going to raise the gas tax. We’re not going to raise the gas tax,” said McConnell.
The federal gas tax feeds the HTF, which funds repairs and maintenance of the federal road, bridge, highway and transit system across the country. The tax has sat at 18.4 CPG since 1993, the last time it was raised. But the revenues raised have struggled to keep up with growing infrastructure repair costs, leaving a roughly $16 billion annual shortfall that Congress has typically addressed with short-term funding patches.
Meanwhile, the latest short-term funding patch for the HTF is set to expire on July 31 unless Congress acts.
While a long-term funding bill seems to be the preferred fix to the HTF problem, Republicans and Democrats have struggled to agree on how to pay for it. Many Republicans are loath to raise the federal gas tax, and have insisted on cutting spending or finding other funding sources. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has also quashed the idea of raising the tax. That has not stopped legislators from both parties from trying.
In the House, Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Wash.) has cosponsored H.R. 680, the UPDATE Act, which would raise the gas tax by 15 CPG over three years. And Rep. Tom Rice (R-S.C.) recently introduced a bill that would increase the federal gas tax by 10 CPG but offset it with an income tax credit for drivers, said a report by The Hill.
Rice said the bill would lend “certainty” to funding availability without costing more money.
“We have enough revenue already,” Rice told the publication. “Our measure moves money from the general fund into the [HTF]. It would raise the gas tax by about 10 cents-per-gallon, which would cost the average driver about $130 per year. It would be offset by a $133 income tax credit, so it’s revenue-neutral.”
On the long-term front, the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee has been working on a six-year transportation funding bill that has a likely $90-billion price tag. But as McConnell observed, “there is considerable skepticism that you could pay for a bill of a six-year duration,” Politico reported.
He was also “skeptical” about a bi-partisan plan that would overhaul corporate taxes to help fund infrastructure, according to Politico, because he believes there is not enough time between now and the July 31 deadline to consider such a complex approach. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), a co-sponsor of the bill along with Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), criticized McConnell for not suggesting any alternatives.
“We’ve been waiting for months for Sen. McConnell to tell us what his plan is,” said Schumer. “What is it? And can it get bipartisan support? Can the president support it?”
While McConnell said that the Senate would address the HTF issue by next week, he and Republican leaders have not indicated a strategy to find funding, said Politico.
In the meantime, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), chair of the Senate Finance Committee, is trying to find around $11 billion that the HTF needs to cover the remaining months of 2015, either from unused funds or spending cuts.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.