Transportation reforms must include highway trust fund fix, witnesses tell house panel

摘要

IN THE REALM of federal infrastructure spending, few problems have proved as persistently intractable as the need to find a politically viable means to ensure the sound, long-term fiscal status of the Highway Trust Fund. The chief source of federal funding for highways and mass-transit programs, the fund was designed to receive its revenues from a host of highway-user taxes, including taxes on various fuels and truck-related items. Because Congress has not raised the federal motor fuels tax since 1993, the purchasing power of the resulting revenues has diminished significantly over the years, while more fuel-efficient vehicles threaten to further reduce inflows to the fund. Although lawmakers provided a short-term fix nearly two years ago, the trust fund is expected to experience a significant shortfall in a few years unless Congress acts. Against this backdrop, a key House subcommittee recently held a hearing on the future of highways and transit infrastructure, and the question of how to stabilize the Highway Trust Fund received considerable attention.