Title: Congress Can Fix the Highway Trust Fund Without Raising the Gas Tax | Economic Intelligence | US News
Headings: The Road Not Taken
The Road Not Taken
Congress can fix highway funding without raising the gas tax.
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Content: The safety improvement program requires that states prioritize spending to enhance safety at highway-rail grade crossings, with $220 million set aside each year for this purpose. Some states do not have a high number of accidents at these locations. Nevertheless, all states are required to spend a substantial portion of the Highway Safety Improvement Program money for this purpose, even if that money could make stronger safety gains if applied to another area. This program is one example of how spending on a program that does not fund highway construction or maintenance reduces the amount of revenue from user fees that is available to maintain existing highways and build new ones. If highway trust fund money were used exclusively for highway construction and maintenance, the federal government could fund highways entirely from fuel tax revenue without having to increase the tax much, if at all. Tracy C. Miller, Contributor
Tracy C. Miller is a senior policy research editor with the Mercatus Center at George Mason ... Read more
Tags: infrastructure, Federal Highway Administration, fuel taxes