This week, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Highways and Transit held a hearing on long-term funding for highways and transit programs where the committee heard from the American Trucking Associations and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce about the need to increase the federal gas taxes in order to avoid a huge funding cliff facing the Highway Trust Fund at the expiration of the current surface transportation authorization, the FAST Act, in September 2020.
The committee also heard from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) who explained the impact funding uncertainty has on state DOTs and from a representative of the Western Road Use Charge Consortium (RUC West) about the progress that is being made on Road Use Charge or Vehicle Miles Travelled state pilot programs.  As with previous hearings on the subject of long-term funding for the Highway Trust Fund, there was universal agreement from committee members on the need to address the long-term solvency of the Trust Fund but not similar agreement on how we pay for it – specifically on increasing federal gas taxes.
As AGC continues to push for a robust infrastructure plan, fixing the Highway Trust Fund will be front and center in those efforts
For more information, contact Sean O’Neill at[email protected] or (202) 547-8892