INTERNATIONAL | WASHINGTON | CUSTOMS | SECURITY | REGULATION
By R.G. Edmonson
Congress’s
SOURCES OF HIGHWAY TRUST FUND REVENUE
■ Percentage, based on tax revenue 2005-2008.
Tires
Heavy-vehicle use
Truck and
trailer sales
Diesel
Gasoline
“DOES ANYBODY HEAR US? Does this administration hear from the folks who have all come together and said we need a robust highway bill now?” asked Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio.
Now, or do it later? It’s the crux of the debate over the future of transportation policy and financing reform that separates the House and Senate. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works, favors making
changes later. She supports an administration proposal to extend the current highway bill until March 2011, and replenish the Highway Trust Fund, which is projected to be bankrupt in August.
Boxer and Voinovich sparred June 25 at a hearing on the highway fund’s shortfall. Voinovich carried the case for Rep. James L. Oberstar, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, who is determined to pass his Surface Transportation Authorization Act of 2009 by Congress’s recess in August.
Boxer said most of the committee supports the White House plan, which also would set aside for later tougher political questions about how to pay for transportation priorities.
“I share your passion for doing a trans-
formational bill . . . (but) until I can tell the American people how we’re going to pay for this major change, I’m not ready to find that solution,” Boxer told Voinovich.
Boxer chastised Oberstar for dropping the problem of paying for a $450 billion bill into the lap of the House Ways and Means Committee. In its current state, the trust fund would only supply half of the revenue that Oberstar’s bill would need.
Voinovich said legions of trade groups are ready to rally to the cause. “There’s an urgency to it. Good for our environment. Good for our economy. Good for jobs,” Voinovich said. “You’re talking about finding some money to keep us going at the level we’re at? . . . The way to get the job done is to pass a bill now. Urgent! Get it done!”
The solution is a fuel tax increase to keep the trust fund above water, Voinovich said. Several studies have concluded a fuel tax increase is the best fix in the short run. The Obama administration opposes a higher fuel tax, at least until the economy improves. Voinovich said Americans would support the tax increase if they saw tangible improvements in congestion, air pollution and infrastructure.
“If the Highway Trust Fund wasn’t going broke, this would be a very different conversation,” Boxer said. A depleted trust fund would cause alarm among states and companies that depend on its revenue. “This is a very important moment for us to send a strong signal and extend the highway bill. There is no reason to frighten people that in the short term anything bad is going to happen.”
Before the hearing, Voinovich attended a
Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.
Source: Government Accountability Office
meeting of groups called by Oberstar to support quick action.
“The message I got was to make sure that the leadership in the House understands that getting this bill done is a priority, and that the Ways and Means Committee focuses on pulling together the revenue sourcing,” said Janet Kavinoky, director of transportation infrastructure and policy for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
“The U.S. Chamber’s focus is on keeping the momentum going in the House,” she said. “We’re not letting the Senate off the hook to get their bill written, and we’re certainly not going to let up on the House to get the revenue solution.”
The big question is, why an 18-month extension? Kavinoky said. The answer: politics. “The administration wants it after the 2010 elections. People keep saying they’ve got to have time to figure out how to pay for it,” she said. “I think the real issue is members of Congress coming to terms with the reality that we have to pay for it, and having the conversation with voters that you get what you pay for.”
Boxer said with a Senate agreement on funding, “Nothing is going to stop us from writing our bill the minute we have our breakthrough.” But she said hearings wouldn’t begin until the fall.
After the hearing, Voinovich greeted allies in the cause. “I think if we have a chorus of people out there saying they’re willing to bite the bullet, then I think we can convince (the Senate) that this is the right thing to do for our country,” Voinovich said. JOC
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