John Hennessy III,
P.E.
THE COUNCIL OF STATE GOVERNMENTS
State infrastructure banks can help states stretch their state and federal dollars and meet the demands of financing large, impactful, long-term infrastructure projects. When government agencies and authorities must seek yearly grants and allocations to finance projects, the completion of those projects can be delayed for months or years.
Autobloggreen has put together an interactive map detailing the amount of money a consumer is charged in taxes whenever they fill up at the pump. With a 70 cents per gallon tax on gasoline, Connecticut ranks highest among the 50 states, while Alaska ranks lowest with a 26.4 cents per gallon. “…gas tax is – […]
View this complete post...The practical implications of this policy for the federal-aid transportation program are unambiguous: federal budget authority in FY 2012 and beyond will be limited to tax receipts flowing into the Highway Trust Fund. Those revenues (plus interest) will amount to an estimated $36.9 billion in 2011 according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO)— $31.8 billion will be credited to the Highway Account and $5.1 billion to the Transit Account. Over the next ten years, CBO estimates these revenues will grow at an average rate of a little more than one percent per year, largely reflecting expected growth in motor fuel consumption. (“The Highway Trust Fund and Paying for Highways,” testimony of Joseph Kile, Asst. Director of CBO, before the Senate Finance Committee, May 17, 2011).
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SMART GROWTH AMERICA & TAXPAYERS FOR COMMON SENSE
By underfunding repair and allowing roads to fall out of good condition, state leaders are choosing the most expensive type of repair possible, as rehabilitating a road that has completely deteriorated is substantially more expensive than keeping that road in good condition in the first place…Adding further urgency to these budget concerns is that with every dollar spent on new construction, states add to a road system they are already failing to adequately maintain. As a result, states face a large and growing financial burden.
MINETA TRANSPORTATION INSTITUTE
This report presents the preliminary results of the second year of a random-digit-dial public opinion telephone survey investigating support among members of the public for a variety of transportation tax options at the federal level. The survey results show that a majority of Americans would support higher taxes for transportation—under certain conditions.
AMERICAN PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATION
Experience over the past decade, backed by several notable research studies, shows that price increases in gasoline cause related increases in public transportation ridership. Based on that information, this report provides a model that projects future increases in public transit ridership that will accompany rising gasoline prices.
CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE
By themselves, fuel taxes cannot provide a strong incentive for people to avoid overusing highways-that is, to forgo trips for which the costs to themselves and others exceed the benefits. This study examines broad alternatives for federal funding of highways, focusing on fuel taxes and on taxes that could be assessed on the basis of the number of miles that vehicles travel.
The President said he will make sure that his program will be “fully paid for” and pledged to work with Congress to ensure that funding for surface transportation does not increase the deficit. But these vague expressions of intent are hardly appropriate in a Budget message which traditionally was meant to offer Congress and the public concrete explanations on how the Administration intends to fund its proposed program initiatives.
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Ethan Pollack joined the Economic Policy Institute in July 2008. Prior to joining EPI, he worked at the Office of Management and Budget and the George Washington Institute of Public Policy. His areas of interest include public investment, fiscal policy, transportation, and budget and tax policy. His work has been used in numerous publications, and he has appeared as a guest on CNN, Fox News, BBC World News, Canada TV, Russia Today, and WNYC.
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