American Trucking Associations officials recently endorsed a menu of revenue alternatives to address the nation’s surface transportation infrastructure funding crisis.
“When the process began, we had a list of more than 30 potential funding sources,” says ATA Vice Chairman Pat Thomas, vice-president of UPS Inc, and vice chairman of the funding task force. “We’ve narrowed that down to a list of options that could provide the resources needed to address the critical highway and bridge upgrades we need.”
ATA’s funding menu includes:
- Indexing of the fuel tax based on price, CPI or the estimated impact of improved fuel efficiency;
- Proceeds from repatriation of overseas capital;
- Issuance of Treasury bonds subsidized with revenue from indexing the fuel tax;
- A new annual “highway access fee” for all motorists;
- Use of royalties from new oil and gas leases;
- A per-barrel tax on imported oil and domestic crude production;
- And finally, as a last resort, a transfer from the General Fund to ensure short-term Highway Trust Fund stability.
“While we continue to believe that the fuel tax is the fairest, most efficient method of funding our highway system, we also recognize the political difficulties of getting an increase through Congress,” ATA President and CEO Bill Graves said. “The work of this task force lays out what is acceptable to the trucking industry, and what should be acceptable to our political leaders to address the Highway Trust Fund crisis."