Senators call for federal gas tax hike

Mary Troyan | USA Today

WASHINGTON — Low gas prices have rekindled talk on Capitol Hill about raising the federal gas tax to eliminate huge annual deficits in the federal Highway Trust Fund that pays for road and bridge work around the country.

While some top Republicans remain adamant a tax hike is not the answer, there are signs that the idea, including one from Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, is at least getting a fresh look.

Corker and Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., have proposed raising the federal gas tax by 12 cents over two years and indexing it to inflation. To make the concept more palatable to fiscal conservatives, the measure would lower other taxes.

The 18.4-cent-per-gallon gas tax hasn't been raised since 1993. As vehicles have become more efficient, the revenue generated by the tax has dropped. Current stopgap funding for the Highway Trust Fund expires in May, and transportation officials in Tennessee and other states are holding back projects until uncertainty about the federal money is addressed.

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, said this week a gas tax increase could not be ruled out. Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, agreed.

They did not endorse Corker's bill, but their comments represent more of an opening than when gas prices topped $4 a gallon.

"What we floated is obvious. There is not enough money coming in," Corker said last week.

The Highway Trust Fund will be short more than $160 billion over the next 10 years.

Maintaining and expanding the nation's transportation infrastructure is one of the few big issues with strong bipartisan support in Congress. But a long-term solution to the Highway Trust Fund deficit has been elusive, with Congress passing short-term fixes. The process has been tumultuous for state officials who can't plan multiyear transportation projects without knowing how they'll be paid for.

Corker told reporters this week that even if raising the gas tax isn't the solution, he wants whatever Congress decides by May to be a permanent fix.

"We're open to all kinds of ways in dealing with this," Corker said. "But one thing I will lay in the railroad tracks over is any kind of short-term, kick-the-can-down-the-road (approach)."

Corker was especially critical of the short-term fixes done mostly with borrowed money.

"It has been an act of generational theft," he said. "Congress has taken what I perceive as the cowardly way out. We're spending future generations' money and not dealing with the issue."

In the House, Speaker John Boehner of Ohio opposes an increase in the gas tax. Reacting to Corker's proposal, he said Thursday, "There are a lot of people with a lot of ideas. We've got to find a way to deal with America's crumbling infrastructure and we need to do it in a long-term program that is in fact funded."