I wonder how this will impact the Marine Industry?:huh:
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http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=6aa1e79a-b104-443b-997d-5c61872416b5
Increase In Gas Tax Proposed For Transportation Upgrades Congressional panel backs more funds for infrastructure needs
A congressional commission has recommended increasing the gasoline tax by as much as 40 cents a gallon over five years, allowing more highway tolls and reducing the time it takes to complete highway projects — suggestions that, while focused on major cities, could nonetheless come to Connecticut.
The 12-member National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission has been working on its recommendations for nearly two years. Its report, released Tuesday, focuses on ways to close the gap between what is currently spent on infrastructure, including highways, bridges and rail, and what the commission said ought to be spent.
Commission Vice Chairman Jack Schendorf said the country should spend between $225 billion and $340 billion per year, at all levels of government, on its surface transportation system, but currently spends less than 40 percent of that.
The proposal would raise the current tax of 18.4 cents per gallon of gas by 5 to 8 cents annually for five years, then index it to inflation to help repair transportation infrastructure, expand public transit and highways, and broaden railways and rural access.
Schendorf said that equates to 41 to 66 cents a day for the average American motorist.
The federal gas tax has not risen since 1993. The increase, which the commission considers a short-term solution, is proposed to take effect in 2009, when the federal government begins its next highway funding authorization period.
On Tuesday, commissioners were already fielding questions about whether their recommendations would get serious consideration. Chairman Mary Peters and two other commissioners who voted against the report's recommendations did not attend the press conference and issued a dissenting opinion, saying private-sector investment and tolls would suffice.
Peters is the U.S. Secretary of Transportation. Her boss, President Bush, has opposed an increase in the gas tax.
“A majority of our commission colleagues propose to expand transportation capacity by increasing government taxation of a commodity whose consumption we seek to discourage,” the minority view says. “Placing our energy, environment and transportation infrastructure funding policies into direct conflict with each other guarantees failure of one or all policies.”
U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, issued a statement Tuesday that also questioned the tax-hike recommendation: “Considering a gas-tax hike at a point when our slowing economy is threatened by a recession and a foreign policy that has left our domestic priorities woefully underfunded is a mistake.”
But other commission members said the public would support such an increase if assured the money would be used wisely. The report includes an overhaul of the way the federal government oversees its infrastructure.
Though the commission was formed in 2005, well before the Minnesota bridge collapse last summer, it made its report on the same day the National Transportation Safety Board held a news conference to announce that design flaws factored in the collapse.
The commission recommends replacing more than 100 existing federal transportation programs with 10 “performance-oriented, outcome driven” programs to bring the existing infrastructure into “a state of good repair,” reduce congestion to specific limits in the major metropolitan areas, reduce highway fatalities by 50 percent by 2025, foster environmental stewardship and address freight and rail issues.
The report also recommends fees for freight users and ticket taxes for passenger-rail improvements, peak-hour “congestion pricing” on highways and other tolls, and dedicating customs fees to the trust fund.
The commission also recommends that state and local governments increase their funding of transportation projects, Schendorf said.
Congress created the commission and charged it with looking at the condition and operation of the nation's surface transportation, which includes highways, bridges and rail. The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives has scheduled a hearing on the report for Thursday.
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http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=6aa1e79a-b104-443b-997d-5c61872416b5
Increase In Gas Tax Proposed For Transportation Upgrades Congressional panel backs more funds for infrastructure needs
A congressional commission has recommended increasing the gasoline tax by as much as 40 cents a gallon over five years, allowing more highway tolls and reducing the time it takes to complete highway projects — suggestions that, while focused on major cities, could nonetheless come to Connecticut.
The 12-member National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission has been working on its recommendations for nearly two years. Its report, released Tuesday, focuses on ways to close the gap between what is currently spent on infrastructure, including highways, bridges and rail, and what the commission said ought to be spent.
Commission Vice Chairman Jack Schendorf said the country should spend between $225 billion and $340 billion per year, at all levels of government, on its surface transportation system, but currently spends less than 40 percent of that.
The proposal would raise the current tax of 18.4 cents per gallon of gas by 5 to 8 cents annually for five years, then index it to inflation to help repair transportation infrastructure, expand public transit and highways, and broaden railways and rural access.
Schendorf said that equates to 41 to 66 cents a day for the average American motorist.
The federal gas tax has not risen since 1993. The increase, which the commission considers a short-term solution, is proposed to take effect in 2009, when the federal government begins its next highway funding authorization period.
On Tuesday, commissioners were already fielding questions about whether their recommendations would get serious consideration. Chairman Mary Peters and two other commissioners who voted against the report's recommendations did not attend the press conference and issued a dissenting opinion, saying private-sector investment and tolls would suffice.
Peters is the U.S. Secretary of Transportation. Her boss, President Bush, has opposed an increase in the gas tax.
“A majority of our commission colleagues propose to expand transportation capacity by increasing government taxation of a commodity whose consumption we seek to discourage,” the minority view says. “Placing our energy, environment and transportation infrastructure funding policies into direct conflict with each other guarantees failure of one or all policies.”
U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, issued a statement Tuesday that also questioned the tax-hike recommendation: “Considering a gas-tax hike at a point when our slowing economy is threatened by a recession and a foreign policy that has left our domestic priorities woefully underfunded is a mistake.”
But other commission members said the public would support such an increase if assured the money would be used wisely. The report includes an overhaul of the way the federal government oversees its infrastructure.
Though the commission was formed in 2005, well before the Minnesota bridge collapse last summer, it made its report on the same day the National Transportation Safety Board held a news conference to announce that design flaws factored in the collapse.
The commission recommends replacing more than 100 existing federal transportation programs with 10 “performance-oriented, outcome driven” programs to bring the existing infrastructure into “a state of good repair,” reduce congestion to specific limits in the major metropolitan areas, reduce highway fatalities by 50 percent by 2025, foster environmental stewardship and address freight and rail issues.
The report also recommends fees for freight users and ticket taxes for passenger-rail improvements, peak-hour “congestion pricing” on highways and other tolls, and dedicating customs fees to the trust fund.
The commission also recommends that state and local governments increase their funding of transportation projects, Schendorf said.
Congress created the commission and charged it with looking at the condition and operation of the nation's surface transportation, which includes highways, bridges and rail. The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives has scheduled a hearing on the report for Thursday.
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