releases: https://blumenauer.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/gas-tax-faq-update-act
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://blumenauer.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/gas-tax-faq-update-act | The Gas Tax: An FAQ on the UPDATE Act | 2013-12-06 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Democrat | House | OR | Earl Blumenauer | B000574 | blumenauer.house.gov | legacy | Why are you proposing raising the gas tax now? Our roads and bridges are falling apart, and so is the mechanism we use to build them. If we don't take action now, on October 1st, 2014 the Highway Trust Fund, which funds all of our transportation projects, will go broke.There won't be enough money in the fund to pay for the projects that have been approved. To avoid this, we have three alternatives. Congress can transfer General Fund revenue, which we've done in the past, to the Highway Trust Fund. This keeps the Trust Fund going but increases the deficit, and lets Congress avoid the real problem (sound familiar?). The other option is to use the user fee that is supposed to fund the Highway Trust Fundthe gas tax. Because Congress didn't index the gas tax to inflation, it has not kept up with spendingsince it was last raise in 1992. By increasing the gas tax by fifteen cents, which is what has been recommended by multiple bipartisan budget commissions, my legislation basically makes the same change that would have occurred had we tied the gas tax to inflation back in the early 1990s. The third option is that Congress can drastically reduce the number of transportation projects that are funded. This would impact our interstate highway system, bridge reconstruction and maintenance and reduce the ability of local communities to make transportation improvements or fund transit systems. Why are you focused on this issue? I've cared about transportation and infrastructure issues my entire career. When I was in the Oregon legislature, I worked to create the transportation commission and multimodal statewide transportation plans to make sure that the state was spending money wisely. As the Portland City Commissioner in charge of transportation, I learned firsthand about the challenges of maintaining streets, reducing the paving backlog and the importance of sidewalks so that people would have a safe way to walk in their neighborhood. As a member of Congress, I've literally talked to thousands of people in Oregon and across the country, attended countless meetings, participated in public hearings, and reviewed numerous reports. I've reached the same conclusion as most transportation, finance, and budget experts: our roads, bridges, highways and transit systems are bad shape and we need more sustainable, long-term funding to maintain our infrastructure and make it work better. Doubling the tax -- do we really need to do that? I don't like raising the gas tax either. But the reality is that it's necessary. If we had pegged the gas tax to inflation back in the 1990s, it would be close to the level I'm suggesting we raise it today. If we raise the gas tax by less than fifteen cents, we will have to transfer money from the general fund to spend on transportation projects. That increases the national debt. How will this be implemented? Fifteen cents is a lot! The bill phases in the gas tax increase over three years to help give individuals time to adjust. Won't this hit low income families the hardest? Low income families are hit hardest when they aren't given choices. Generally people in the bottom third of incomes pay more on transportation than they do on housing. They are the ones who are profoundly affected if there is congestion because they work by the hour and if they can't get to work that is money out of their pocket. If the roads are bad and are shaking the cars apart, they can't afford to get it realigned or to replace their tires.Adequately investing in our transportation system enables us to provide transportation choices, so that low income and fixed income individuals can find cheaper options than driving, or can reduce the length of their commute. Also, investing this extra money in transportation creates jobs. Studies show that for each billion dollars that is spent on infrastructure, 36,000 jobs are created. Most of these are family wage jobs that can't be outsourced overseas. Other impacts ripple down to local coffee shops, bookstores, and cleaners so everybody is better off. This creates more tax revenue from business activity that will end up supporting schools, parks, and police. This is a serious question that I thought deeply about, but I am absolutely convinced that lower income people have more at stake because they have no choice and they bear the brunt if the transportation system becomes more expensive and more dysfunctional. When a big bridge falls down, it always seems to get rebuilt. So why do we need more money? When a bridge falls down, states can access emergency federal money to help rebuild a bridge. However, this means some other project doesn't get built, or maintenance in another area is ignored. Over 60% of the bridges in the United States are structurally deficientwe need to provide adequate funding to upgrade and maintain these bridges instead of waiting until they fall down to replace them. That's not safe. The streets in my neighborhood are full of potholes. How will this help? Right now, states are in charge of road maintenance, but about 40% of the money they use for maintenance comes from the federal government. If the federal government loses 30% of its funding, states will have to cut back on road maintenance, resulting in more potholes, more shaky bridges, and older transit systems. This bill helps us make sure that the bottom doesn't drop out, so that states have enough money to fix the potholes in your neighborhood. Where is all this gas tax money spent? Gas taxes help build new bridges, pave highways, build transit systems, sidewalks, and goes to all the other projects that help people get where they need to go. Most of the money is allocated to the states, who then distribute the money based on local needs and formulas. If we just spent gas taxes on roads, bridges and highways, would we need to raise the tax? We would. The gas tax is supposed to help fund our transportation system. The question really becomes about whether we should be building only a highway system, or a transportation system. Data has shown that it's more cost effective to build a transportation system that gives people choices and options about how they get around. This reduces congestion, which decreases the amount of highways we need to build (highways are one of the most expensive projects to build) and uses tax dollars most efficiently. Who supports this? This bill has support from organizations across the political spectrum. It's supported by the Chamber of Commerce, the American Public Transit Association, Transportation for America, the AAA, the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, the American Trucking Association, several labor organizations and many others. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |