Do you think extending the highway trust fund extension is somehow a uniquely Democratic idea?
The bulk of Highway Trust Fund revenue comes from an 18.4-cents-a-gallon federal gasoline tax.
As part of that process, expect plenty of discussion about the state of the Highway Trust Fund.
The Highway Trust Fund, responsible for highway and transportation projects, is nearly insolvent.
Since the Highway Trust Fund has no borrowing authority, Congress can either raise more money or scale back on highway programs.
Rather the right precedent is the relatively low gas taxes of the United States, which raise revenues dedicated to the Highway Trust Fund.
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For one, the group wants more money, via a 10-cent hike in the fuel taxes that flow into the federal government's Highway Trust Fund.
Opponents of the measure objected to imposing a penalty of cutting ten percent of federal highway trust fund money to states who refuse to comply.
Without federal gas taxes, the highway trust fund would dry up.
But the drawing down of principle isn't sustainable, and now there's a cash flow problem--money flowing into the Highway Trust Fund is projected to drop.
It remains unclear how strongly Shuster and others would fight for a provision in the House bill that would take the Highway Trust Fund off budget.
According to "reserve language" in the budget resolution, more spending could follow, so long as more revenue becomes available--from somewhere--to put in the Highway Trust Fund.
As the standard bearer for 3 million American businesses, will the Chamber get behind a hike in the gas tax (which flows into the Highway Trust Fund)?
That's why the trucking industry is looking for some help from the federal government in the form of infrastructure improvement, tax credits and a well-funded Highway Trust Fund.
There are a variety of methods on the table, including directing those gasahol taxes into the Highway Trust Fund, letting the Highway Trust Fund accrue interest and increasing taxes on fuels.
By the way, the Highway Trust Fund for Transportation is exempted from cuts, as are many other programs such as Social Security, Medicaid, VA and Food Stamps to name a few.
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At a Monday briefing, David Bauer, the group's senior vice president for government relations, noted that in reauthorizing the last round of highway spending, Congress opted against raising taxes in favor drawing down the Highway Trust Fund balance.
Some background: When the transportation act, known as TEA-21, was enacted in 1998, it tied spending levels to revenue collected by the government from highway user fees (various taxes on fuels, tires and so on) and credited to the highway account of the Highway Trust Fund.
What that means is the road builders want spending determined by various assessments from the Department of Transportation and others of what's needed to maintain and improve the transportation infrastructure in the U.S. If receipts coming into the Highway Trust Fund fall short of those needs, the lobby argues Congress should close the gap.
Starting in 2002, receipts from user fees began to drop significantly, thanks largely to the impact of a slower economy and increased sales of gasahol, an Ethanol-based fuel that isn't taxed for the Highway Trust Fund and is heavily subsidized--thanks to the farm lobby and the efforts of Archer Daniels Midland (nyse: ADM - news - people ).
At the time, this was considered a victory for the highway lobby, since Congress had been allowing unspent money to accumulate in the Trust Fund to make the federal budget deficit look smaller.
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