Lawmaker Calls for Nationwide Mileage Tax Test

A test of a vehicle mileage tax in Oregon should be extended nationwide in the next surface transportation bill, Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., said today.

Blumenauer introduced legislation last July that would require the Treasury Department to set up a Vehicle Miles Traveled pilot program similar to Oregon's in every state.

That legislation should be passed as part of the next multi-year surface transportation bill and used to phase out the gas tax, Blumenauer said today at a transportation technology forum on Capitol Hill.

"This is something we could flip the switch on before the next reauthorization cycle," he said. "We need to get out of the downward death spiral in transportation funding."

Incentives could be put in place that would encourage a voluntary shift to a VMT fee and a phase-out of the fuel tax, he said. "I think it will take the better part of a decade."

Contact William B. Cassidy at wcassidy@joc.com.