Democrats make uphill push for gas tax increase

WASHINGTON – Democrats, contractors and unions are pressing Congress to raise the gas tax to fund the Highway Trust Fund despite opposition from key Republicans that makes any increase unlikely.

On Wednesday, Sen. Barbara Boxer, the top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, urged members of the Transportation Construction Coalition — a group of trade associations and construction unions — to lobby members of Congress for a long-term funding plan for the Highway Trust Fund, which is set to expire May 31.

The Highway Trust Fund is the primary source for federal highway and transit programs funding for local, state and national projects. It is funded by the federal gas tax — currently set at 18.4 cents per gallon — which hasn't been raised since 1993. In the past six years, there have been 32 short-term measures taken to maintain the fund, but Boxer endorsed raising the gas tax as a reliable long-term solution.

At a Wednesday news conference on the Capitol lawn, Boxer outlined a proposal to be introduced later this week that would reduce the effect of a tax increase by providing gas tax refunds to middle-income households.

"If you are in the $55,000-a-year bracket, you'll get that refunded to you, which should come out to be about $30 a year," Boxer said.

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She said she hopes the measure will appease members of Congress who fear voter backlash if they vote for a gas tax increase.

"We are finalizing the last bits of the proposal because we can't keep holding this off; we need action," Boxer said.

"The nation's governors and mayors are feeling the effects of the delayed decision and can't take risks on big projects because they don't know where the funding is going to come from," Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said at a meeting of the Transportation Construction Coalition on Tuesday. "We need to say 'hell no' to short-term funding."

Already, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee and Wyoming have had to postpone transportation projects because of funding delays, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Speaking at the same meeting as Foxx, Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, said the gas tax should be increased by 15 cents.

"Then we need to work to abolish it because funding our infrastructure on gallons of gas is a downward spiral as technological innovations enhance and provide us fuel alternatives," he said.

Lawmakers from both parties agree on the importance of funding highway construction, but House Republicans are dead set against raising the gas tax.

"The real fix isn't raising the gas tax," said Rep. Roger Williams, R-Texas. He said Congress is more likely to find funding for highways through broader tax code changes, such as changing taxation on overseas corporate income. House Transportation Committee chairman Bill Shuster, R-Pa., told reporters last month "There is no willingness in this Congress or in the administration to do anything with adjusting user fees or taxes," The Hill reported.

The transportation construction industry is feeling the economic blunt of the delays and is urging Congress to find a solution.

"We've been at a purgatory delay for the past seven years because the government can't fund infrastructure projects," said Pete Raune, co-chairman of the coalition. "We've got to get Congress to act."