Lawmaker Urges Heavy Users to Pay for Infrastructure

The heavy users of the transportation system should bear the burden of paying for the infrastructure, according to Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.

“I’m not going to keep going back to the American public on a gas tax. Let the heavy users like the truckers step up to the plate, and we can work together,” Boxer said during a Senate Environment and Public Works hearing June 25 on keeping the Highway Trust Fund solvent.

The Obama administration projects that the trust fund will be out of money in August, and Congress is considering ways to replenish the fund. Last September, lawmakers approved an $8 billion shift from the general fund.

Last month the administration asked Congress to extend the current highway program for 18 months to allow time to find money to replenish HTF. Boxer and a number of key senators agreed to the plan, but House members led by Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., vowed to keep pushing for a new transportation bill before the current law expires on Sept. 30.

Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, vigorously supported Oberstar’s bill during the hearing. He said Congress should pass a fuel tax increase to fund the trust fund, rather than “robbing Peter to pay Paul,” shuffling funds from other programs to keep the Highway Trust Fund afloat. Boxer said the majority of her committee supports the administration.

Boxer commended the American Trucking Associations for standing behind a fuel tax increase, but said she had heard from no other groups.

“I want to work with you Sen. Voinovich, so we can have the people at the ports say, ‘This is what we’re willing to do to pay for it.’ The railroads, ‘This is what we’re going to do to pay for it.’”

Boxer said that she might agree to a fuel tax increase if it’s indexed to the performance of the economy. The taxes have been unchanged since 1993.

Contact R.G. Edmonson at bedmonson@joc.com.