The State of Oregon on July 1 kicked off a new pay-by-the-mile road usage charge program. This program charges volunteer users 1.5 cents per mile while driving in Oregon and allows them to receive credit on their bill for state gas tax paid at the pump.
Bipartisan legislation introduced in the U.S. House Thursday would index the current federal gasoline and diesel fuel taxes to inflation, raising $27.5 billion to ensure highway-infrastructure spending is funded for exactly 1.7 years.
More attention is being paid this week to legislating infrastructure funding as the expiration date on the current MAP-21 highway bill looms ever closer - not that deadlines mean much on Capitol Hill.
Utah's Gov. Gary R. Herbert has signed a transportation infrastructure funding bill that includes increases in the state tax on natural gas and hydrogen vehicle fuel.
A bi-partisan group of congressmen seeking a fair excise tax on liquefied natural gas and propane introduced the Alternative Fuel Tax Parity Act on Thursday. Reps. Todd Young (R-IN), John Larson (D-CT), Mac Thornberry (R-TX), and Ron Kind (D-WI) jointly authored the bill.
Speaking to reporters yesterday, House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Bill Shuster argued that both Congress and President Obama lack the political will to increase federal fuel taxes to pay for funding the next highway bill.
As state governments seek the best avenues to fund their highway infrastructure spending this year, many governors and legislators are looking closely at where making changes to motor-vehicle fuel taxation may get them.
Pennsylvania's Gov. Tom Wolf has reversed a decision made in late 2014 to increase the state tax on LNG that had increased the fuel’s state tax by 4.3 cents per gallon.
Sens. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and Richard Burr (R-N.C.) have reintroduced a bipartisan bill that would allow liquefied natural gas (LNG) to better compete with diesel with taxation based on energy output rather than per gallon.
Rep. Bill Shuster, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said that one of his 2015 priorities will be a highway bill – but he does not expect it to be funded by a fuel tax increase, the AP reported.
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