Page 22 - ATR 1 2012 web 2

For decades, that’s how this nation ed, multi-year highway bill that would be Environment and Public Works
funded highway and bridges. Going back paid for by an indexed, inflation-proof Committee has approved a two-year,
to 1956 when the 49,000-mile Interstate rise in the federal tax on fuel with those $109 billion bill. The House will likely
Highway System was created, proceeds monies reserved exclusively for highways. pass a five-year bill at $230 billion, or
from the federal tax on gasoline and It’s a perfect solution. a six-year bill at $285 billion. These are
diesel went into the Highway Trust Fund. But it ain’t never gonna happen. roughly the same levels as the current
The federal government, in turn, doled Why? Short answer: because this is highway bill.
out funds to the states on a very favor- Washington. There is a common denominator in
able ratio in order to build and maintain No longer are politicians willing to both bills. There is not enough revenue
federal-aid highways. properly fund the trust. The last increase generated by the federal fuel tax to pay
The system worked so well that for in the federal fuel tax came in 1993 for them. In both cases, Congress must
several decades the Highway Trust Fund when Bill Clinton was in the White somehow find another $12 billion a year
ran a surplus—a serious surplus. As House. The last time a Republican in to maintain funding at current levels.
recently as the early 1990s, the fund had Congress voted for any tax increase was If a consensus isn’t reached by
a surplus of upward of $10 billion. Even 20 years ago. March 31, a worst-case scenario has
in Washington, that’s real money. So because of inflation and the rise the states abandoning highway projects
already in the pipeline because of uncer-
tainty in federal funding.

aN ExpErT loBByIST SpEakS
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
“what the couNtry Needs is moNey from real President Donohue is frustrated at the
sources, Not promises of priVate iNVestmeNt lack of foresight on this issue. “I know
or redirected saViNgs.” something about that transportation
stuff and the logistics business that goes
with it,” he says with a wink.
—bill graVes Donohue has been out front trying
americaN truckiNg associatioNs to cajole Congress to act.
presideNt aNd ceo “We have got to get a deal in the
Congress of the United States which is a
long-term deal,” Donohue said at a press
briefing at the Chamber headquarters
across the street from the White House.
“Forget how much money is in it for
a minute,” he added. “The way it works
wHaT HappENED To THE in the cost of concrete, steel and labor, is the federal government puts up 50
fUEl Tax? federal fuel taxes buy less than half the percent and the states and localities put
Then a not-so-funny thing hap- amount of highway construction jobs up 25 percent each. But states and local
pened. Because the federal fuel tax wasn’t than they did back in the early 1990s. communities are not putting up any
indexed for inflation, it did not rise This is also an election year. There money unless they know the federal gov-
proportionately when the price of gaso- isn’t a politician in America—up to and ernment is going to be there longer than
line and diesel rose from around $1 to including President Barack Obama—who 90 days (the typical length of a short-
its current $4 per gallon level. Cars and wants to face an already polarized elec- term funding extension by Congress). So
trucks began to get much more fuel effi- torate and admit he or she has raised we need to get a long-term bill.”
cient and people even started driving less. taxes. But the bigger, more fundamental
The trucking industry knows that. That’s despite that a fuel tax is, issue is facing the current reality that the
That is why it supports an increase in in reality, a user fee. President Ronald Highway Trust Fund needs and influx of
that tax with the caveat that the money Reagan even called it such when he pro- new money.
be spent on highways—not used for gen- posed an increase in the gas tax in 1983. “We need to put a reasonable
eral funds, deficit reduction or to pay for So let’s examine some of the under- amount of dollars in it,” says Donohue,
bike paths somewhere in Oregon. lying issues behind the highway bill, and some of whose members have openly
Truckers realize their time is money. maybe sort out where we are going with announced their willingness to pay
In a perfect world, Washington would dueling bills in both houses of Congress.
realize this and pass an adequately fund- First, the Senate. The Senate  33

22 arkansas truCking rePort | issue 1 2012