Posts Tagged "highway trust fund"
Senate Finance Committee considers a trust fund stopgap, with long-term funding unclear
The Senate Finance Committee Thursday will take up a proposal from Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) to keep the Highway Trust Fund solvent through Dec. 31 with a $9 billion transfer from the general budget. The needed revenue would be raised by increasing the allowable tax on heavy trucks and four accounting maneuvers unrelated to transportation.
Support the Senate’s bipartisan plan to raise the gas tax
After months of hearing from mayors and business leaders and citizens and people of all stripes who are worried about the looming bankruptcy of our transportation fund, a key Senate committee is taking up a temporary fix to the trust fund. But Congress still must find a long-term solution to save our nation’s transportation fund. Two Senators have offered that solution, and it’s time to support that plan.
Governing Mag on the compelling case for more local access to transportation dollars
As the impending insolvency of the Highway Trust Fund looms over the nation’s transportation projects, more and more local leaders are asking for the chance to be heard when it comes to doling out federal transportation money.
A closer look at Rep. DeFazio’s bid to replace the gas tax with an oil fee
With the Highway Trust Fund rushing toward insolvency, Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) this week stepped up by proposing a policy to address this issue by replacing the gasoline pump tax with a per-barrel oil fee and indexation of the diesel tax that together is sufficient to keep the federal program solvent.
In state elections, voters decline to punish pols for raising transportation taxes
Raising the gas tax is a political death sentence, right? Well, not necessarily. In at least two states where legislators raised gas taxes or other fees in the last two years, voters have responded by sending almost all of the supportive members of both parties back to their state houses. Could it be that voters are more supportive of raising revenue than we think?
Transportation funding: summer’s biggest blockbuster
Suddenly, transportation funding is the topic de jour.
In Senate hearing, local officials stand up for greater access to federal funds
Now that the Environment and Public Works Committee has passed the highway title of the Senate’s next transportation bill, attention shifts to three other committees writing remaining portions of the bill. Last week the Commerce Committee held a hearing on “local perspectives on moving America”, including testimony from T4America’s John Robert Smith, the former mayor of Meridian, MS.
Part three: Crucial transportation projects could be halted if Congress fails to rescue transportation funding
Congressional inaction on saving the nation’s transportation fund would have tangible impacts on projects planned for next year and beyond, forcing many long-awaited projects to halt indefinitely as soon as this summer. Illinois’ six-year plan for transportation improvements could be threatened, and one long-awaited enormous project on the border with Iowa could be a casualty.
States already scaling back planned work for next year in anticipation of funding crisis
Congressional inaction on saving the nation’s transportation fund would have tangible impacts on projects planned for next year and beyond, forcing many long-awaited projects to halt indefinitely as soon as this summer. Numerous states are already beginning to make plans for a year where no federal money is available for new projects by scaling back plans and tentatively canceling projects.
Which highly anticipated transportation projects in your community would go back on the shelf next year?
Which highly anticipated transportation projects in your community would go back on the shelf next year? Will it be a bridge replacement years in the making? New buses to meet growing ridership? A multi-use trail along a key highway that bike commuters are hoping to use? Improvements to make your Main Street safer and more pleasant for people who shop and work there?
Crucial transportation projects could be halted if Congress fails to act
Barring congressional action, the nation’s transportation fund will be insolvent later this year and the federal government will be unable to commit to funding any new transportation projects next year. This would have significant impacts on projects that have been planned years in advance across the country.
When the trust fund goes bust: Report shows how much your states and city will lose
Unless Congress adds new revenue to the nation’s transportation trust fund, the federal government will be unable to commit to funding any new transportation projects, depriving states and localities of resources critical to maintaining and improving the infrastructure that makes our economy possible.
RELEASE: When the Highway Trust Fund goes bust: Report shows how much states and metros will lose
Congress has an opportunity to save the transportation program and recommit to investing in the repairs and improvements our communities and businesses need
How much federal transportation money will your region lose this summer?
The Highway Trust Fund—which provides most of the funding for highway projects in the United States—is slated to run bankrupt later this year. If that happens, the program won’t be able to pay for any new projects next year and many federal transportation projects will come to a grinding halt. What will that mean for […]
T4America applauds President and House tax chair for efforts to fix the transportation funding crisis, as local leaders plead for help
Today President Obama and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) introduced separate proposals that would prevent the looming insolvency of the nation’s key infrastructure trust fund. President Obama today unveiled a proposal for a four-year, $302 billion transportation bill, with a windfall from business tax reform covering the shortfall in the Highway Trust Fund for that period. Chairman Camp proposed tax reform measures that would include staving off insolvency of the transportation fund for eight years. James Corless, director of Transportation for America, issued this statement in response:
In Hill event, local leaders make case for federal support for transportation needs
Before a packed room on Capitol Hill, local leaders from three very different communities shared one very specific message with a handful of Congressmen and at least four dozen staffers: If Congress doesn’t act to shore up the nation’s transportation fund before it goes insolvent later this year, their cities and communities would bear the brunt of the pain.
Shining a spotlight on the nation’s strapped transportation fund this Wednesday
It’s not a new story by now: states and local governments stand to lose nearly all access to federal transportation support next year if Congress doesn’t act to shore up the nation’s transportation fund sometime before the end of the summer. So far, we’ve mostly talked about this as a national story, but make no mistake: insolvency would have huge impacts on local communities. To explore the issue in that light, we’re supporting a bipartisan briefing pulled together by two key House members
CBO: Highway Trust Fund hole even deeper than expected
New revenue projections for the Highway Trust Fund released this week from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) show that, not only is the nation’s transportation fund going in the red sooner than expected, but the gap to maintain promised funding levels has increased by about $5 billion.
SOTU followup: Does transportation offer a glimmer of bipartisan hope?
As we noted in our statement after the State of the Union address Tuesday night, it was good to hear the President again cite the need to steer new revenue toward “rebuilding our roads, upgrading our ports, unclogging our commutes”. He didn’t say much beyond that, of course, but given other developments in the background, we have reason to be somewhat encouraged.
America’s infrastructure improves slightly over 2009, still a failing grade
America’s civil engineers raised the grade given to our country’s infrastructure from four years ago, but unfortunately, it’s still a failing grade for America. With the $3.3 trillion dollars needed by 2020 (according to ASCE) unlikely to arrive in this current climate of reduced budgets and austerity, is there a way forward that can make smarter decisions with the money we have and knock back our maintenance backlog while still investing in the 21st century infrastructure our country needs?
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