The Senate Commerce Committee has begun hearings on infrastructure. Representatives from the rail, trucking and port industries, as well as a labor union leader, all reiterated their support for a gas tax increase.
A substantial part of U.S. federal highway funding currently comes from the federal gas tax which is 18.4 cents on gasoline and 24.4 cents on diesel. These levels were established in 1993 and were not indexed for inflation, so they have remained constant for over 25 years.
After the hearing, Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS) told reporters that he doesn’t know if there will be an infrastructure bill this year, let alone how it will be paid for.
House Transportation & Infrastructure Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) has said he met with two people in the White House this month as he crafts his infrastructure legislation. DeFazio has indicated that his legislation would be introduced as three separate bills.