Senate Highway Trust Fund Bill Pushes Congress for Tax Parity on Alternative Fuels

摘要

A highway funding bill proposed by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) could be a big win for alternative fuel groups seeking lower sales taxes. The chairman's latest proposal, which passed the committee July 10, changes the way excise taxes are assessed on liquefied natural gas and propane, moving to an energy-equivalent calculation that advocates say treats the alternative fuels more fairly compared with gasoline and diesel. Wyden put the propane provision in the latest version of the highway bill hours before consideration. The natural gas proposal carried over from an earlier version of the highway bill.