Senators propose a 12-cent Gas Tax Increase to pay for Highway and Transit Programs

Sens. Bob Corker and Chris Murphy said Wednesday that the way to fix the depleted Highway Trust Fund is staring Congress right in the face: a tax hike. Corker, a Tennessee Republican, and Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, pitched a bold plan that calls for federal gasoline and diesel tax increases to shore up the Highway Trust Fund, which pays for most federal transportation programs mostly through a tax on gasoline.

It’s music to the ears of asphalt and concrete interests, who have been clamoring for lawmakers to take the reins of a proposal to hike the gas tax. Though there are other gas tax proposals fermenting on Capitol Hill, all of them have been proposed by Democrats.

Politically it’ll be a monstrously tough sell, especially for many of Corker’s GOP colleagues who see anything resembling a tax hike as toxic. Some even question whether the federal government should pay for transportation projects at all. And Corker didn’t pitch the plan during a Wednesday lunch with Senate GOP colleagues, senators said.

Corker acknowledged that he himself voted against transportation bills in 2009, 2010 and 2012 — mainly because he opposed the “gimmicks” used to transfer general fund dollars into the trust fund. But the former Chattanooga mayor said he was fed up with Congress coming up with short-term fixes while the nation’s roads and bridges continued to crumble.

Read the rest of the story HERE.

If you like what you see, please "Like" us on Facebook either here or here. Please follow us on Twitter here.