Administration preparing for comprehensive transportation bill

Opposes gas tax hike

Steve Hawley, Mar 05, 10.

The Obama administration will release its guiding principles for the upcoming federal transportation bill within 90 days, according to The Bond Buyer. The multi-year bill will replace SAFETEA-LU, the existing bill that expired last year but has been extended by Congress.

Meanwhile, the Senate will soon begin working on its own version of the transportation bill, building on the House bill announced last year by US Rep. James Oberstar of Minnesota. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood also praised Oberstar’s bill but said its $450 billion price tag was too high, according to the Journal of Commerce. “That kind of money doesn’t currently exist,” LaHood said. Oberstar’s bill called for $337 billion for highways, $100 billion for transit, $13 billion for safety programs, and $50 billion for high-speed rail over a six-year period.

The Obama administration also opposes raising the gas tax, the main funding source for the Highway Trust Fund. “I know it’s easy for people who are not elected to talk about raise the gas tax, because those people don’t have to face the voters,” said LaHood.

The federal gas tax has not been raised since 1993, and its purchasing power has been declining as fuel efficiency increases. Numerous groups, including the US Chamber of Commerce, have called for the gas tax to be raised. Others say that the gas tax should be replaced by a vehicle miles fee, which would charge drivers for every mile driven rather than every gallon of gas consumed. Texas is currently studying such a proposal.

With Congress distracted by healthcare reform, neither house acted on Oberstar’s proposal, forcing the extension of SAFETEA-LU. According to The Bond Buyer, the Obama administration expects the new legislation to be approved in 2011.