U.S. Legislative News

Key Lawmakers Mull Fuel Tax Increase

During remarks made at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials’ (AASHTO) annual conference on February 28, 2018, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman, Bill Schuster (R-Pa.), said he wouldn’t rule out raising fuel taxes to pay for much needed infrastructure improvements. Schuster also emphasized the need to quickly advance an infrastructure package in order to ensure the federal Highway Trust Fund’s (HTF) solvency. “If we don’t deal with it now, the trust fund runs out of money in October 2020,” Shuster said at the conference.

The Chairman’s comments follow remarks made by President Trump earlier this month, who reportedly backed a 25-cents per gallon tax increase in a meeting with Congressional transportation leaders at the White House. At the same AASHTO conference, however, Rep. Shuster’s counterpart in the Senate, Chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee John Barrasso (R-Wy.), said raising the gas tax was a “nonstarter.”

The HTF provides the financing structure for federal investment in transportation projects. Motor fuels taxes, consisting of the 18.4-cent-per-gallon tax on gasoline and 24-cent-per-gallon tax on diesel fuels, are the HTF’s main dedicated revenue source. However, lower fuel consumption, changing driving preferences by Americans, and improving fuel efficiency in vehicles have reduced the revenue from fuel taxes resulting in a budget shortfall.

Increasing the fuel tax as a means of securing the HTF’s solvency has been endorsed by NAFA, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the American Society of Civil Engineers.

 

White House Budget Would Cut Funding for TIGER Grants

Issued on February 12, 2018, the White House fiscal year 2019 budget calls for significant cuts to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and funding for the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) discretionary grant program, which offers $500 million in discretionary grants for state and local governments. The White House made an identical request to reduce funding for TIGER grants last year, but was rebuffed by Congress.

Popular with governors and mayors, $5.1 billion in TIGER grants has been awarded and used since 2009 to fund freight and passenger connectivity projects, as well as larger highway expansions. DOT Deputy Secretary Jeffrey Rosen said that under the Administration’s budget, TIGER funding would instead fall under the purview of the President’s recently unveiled $200 billion infrastructure proposal. It is unclear at this time whether Congress will debate the President’s request or opt to maintain current funding levels for the TIGER program.

 

NHTSA Launches Drugged Driving Initiative

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has launched a new initiative to combat drugged driving, a problem the agency says is growing due in part to the national opioid epidemic and states legalizing marijuana.

“Nobody can solve drugged driving alone, but by sharing best practices we can begin to save lives today – we cannot afford to wait,” said Heidi King, NHTSA Deputy Administrator. “And by advancing the science and the data, we can address this problem for our communities in the future.”

To kick off the new initiative, NHTSA is hosting a summit on March 15, 2018, to lead a national dialogue and call-to-action. As part of the summit, NHTSA is bringing together key stakeholders—including safety partners; state and local elected officials; data and policy experts; law enforcement and criminal justice professionals; toxicologists and drug recognition experts—to join the U.S. Department of Transportation in setting a course of action and taking measurable steps to address the nation’s drugged-driving problem.

According to an agency press release, the summit will explore best practices for educating the public on the overall risk of drug-impaired driving, collecting consistent data and tracking DUIDs, testing and measuring driver impairment levels, and enforcing DUID laws.