Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) unveiled the first bipartisan senate proposal to raise the gas tax in order to support a “long-term, stable funding mechanism for our nation’s critical highway and transit projects.”
The Murphy-Corker plan would raise the gas tax by 12 cents over the next two years, raising $164 billion over the next decade and covering the shortfall in the Highway Trust Fund.
IWLA is aware of U.S. infrastructure needs and has supported a modest increase in gas tax in the interest of repairing the roads and bridges.
Proposal supporters cite that it avoids violation of the Americans for Tax Reform’s Taxpayer Protection Pledge by offsetting the gas tax hike with other bipartisan tax-relief legislation, such as a proposal to renew certain expired tax provisions indefinitely.
“We are hopeful this proposal will come to fruition, given the bipartisan nature and the industry’s need for infrastructure repairs,” says IWLA President & CEO Steve DeHaan.