Just as gas prices have begun to drop, a bipartisan pair of lawmakers are proposing an increase in the gasoline tax to help fund transportation projects around the country.
Wisconsin Rep. Tom Petri, a Republican, and Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer, a Democrat, are proposing a 15-cent increase in the federal gas tax to help offset repairs of the nation's transportation infrastructure,
The Hill reports.
"I am cosponsoring Rep. Blumenauer's bill because we need a first-rate transportation system and the responsible thing to do is pay for it," Petri said Wednesday at a press conference.
The federal gasoline tax was first created in the 1930s, and drivers have paid an 18.4 cents-per-gallon tax since 1993.
However, because of vehicles that get better gas mileage, the gas tax isn't satisfying the $50 billion needed annually to fund federal transportation projects, as it currently brings in only about $34 billion a year.
The proposed gas tax measure, the Update, Promote and Develop America's Transportation Act (UPDATE), would phase in the increase over a three-year period.
"For too long we have watched unmet infrastructure needs increase and the regular funding source to meet these needs become less and less relevant over time," the Wisconsin Republican said.
Petri calls the proposal "more fiscally responsible" than the "budget gimmicks that fool taxpayers into thinking that we have offset spending" when the only result is an increase in the federal debt.
The AAA auto club said Wednesday that gas prices may fall another 15 to 20 cents per gallon by Jan. 1, after gas prices fell in November when the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries would not reduce fuel quotas in the face of a fuel surplus,
The Hill reported.
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