He contends it would better account for the rising number of electric vehicles on the nation’s roads. Sam Graves (R-Mo.), ranking member on the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, has emerged as a vocal supporter of VMT. That would entail charging people a fee based on the distance they drive.
"It is political stupidity at the highest and most suicidal level," he said recently on Fox Business Network’s "Bulls & Bears" program.Īnother funding idea under consideration is transitioning to a vehicle-miles-traveled (VMT) fee. Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, has also been agitating against a gas tax hike. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao indicated the administration is open to the possibility of a gas tax increase during a Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee hearing last month.Īsked about ways to fund infrastructure improvements, including a gas tax hike, Chao said "nothing is off the table" ( E&E Daily, March 8).īut in the GOP-controlled Senate, resistance has come from Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), a longtime opponent of raising the gas tax. Chamber of Commerce, a business heavyweight typically averse to higher taxes, has endorsed the idea. One idea on the table is raising the federal gasoline tax of 18.4 cents per gallon, which hasn’t been increased since 1993. Lawmakers continue to bicker about funding options.
"You’ve got those three dynamics working against this, makes it very long odds that Congress will be able to pass it," he said. "The odds are against a broader bill happening given a variety of factors, including time lost during the shutdown of the government and interest to bundle climate change with infrastructure, and the early start of the presidential elections," Gribbin said. Gribbin, President Trump’s former infrastructure adviser. Other challenges include the 35-day partial government shutdown and GOP discomfort with Democrats’ demands for climate change components, said D.J. Lawmakers could simply reauthorize the FAST Act and call it a day on infrastructure. The Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act is set to expire in 2020. Another challenge is the looming reauthorization of a surface transportation bill. Yet the disagreement over funding is just one challenge facing lawmakers. "It would be wonderful to get it done before the August recess." "We’d like to get something through the Senate this year," Senate Environment and Public Works Chairman John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) told E&E News last week. The goal is to move the measure through both chambers before the August break. House leadership has reserved floor time for an infrastructure bill and is considering late spring. "The parting comes on money," Norton said, adding, "I cannot say to you that we are further along on money than we were five years ago" ( Greenwire, March 28). Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), chairwoman of the Transportation & Infrastructure Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, echoed those sentiments at a recent event. "Until the president commits the money and Ways and Means commits the money, we’re not going anywhere," DeFazio added.ĭel. And that’s the holdup," House Transportation & Infrastructure Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) told E&E News.
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