House Speaker Paul Ryan said Wednesday night the Republican-led Congress won’t raise the federal gas tax to pay for President Trump’s infrastructure plan, seemingly putting the idea to rest.
“Well, we’re not going to raise gas taxes, so I don’t foresee that as a problem,” the Wisconsin Republican said during a telephone town hall with Americans for Prosperity President Tim Phillips. “We’re just not going to do that here. There are some people who are talking about that, but the last thing we want to do is pass historic tax relief in December and then undo that, so we are not going to raise gas taxes.”
Americans for Prosperity, a conservative political group aligned with oil men Charles and David Koch, has been lobbying Congress to oppose a gas tax increase. The Republican-aligned Chamber of Commerce, meanwhile, has endorsed a hike.
The tax, which has not been increased in 25 years, is 18.4 cents for gasoline and 24.4 cents for diesel.
Without raising the tax, the government faces a long-term funding problem to pay for road and transit projects.
Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., chairman of the House Infrastructure Committee, has been particularly vocal about finding a stable revenue source to shore up the Highway Trust Fund.
This week, he suggested Congress should consider raising the federal gasoline tax to pay for Trump’s infrastructure plan. Trump’s plan calls for spending $200 billion in federal money on infrastructure projects, to encourage a total of $1.5 trillion in spending, with the difference made up by state, local and private investments.
The combination of a gas tax that hasn’t changed in 25 years and the greater fuel efficiency of cars has led to chronic shortfalls of more than $70 billion since 2008 in funding for the Highway Trust Fund, the main vehicle to spread money to states to help pay for transportation projects.
“Fixing the Highway Trust Fund for the future and modernizing how we fund infrastructure in this country must be part of our solution,” Shuster said Tuesday, in a hearing where Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao testified about the infrastructure plan. “The American people understand the need we have to invest in our infrastructure.”
On Thursday, Shuster refused to back down after Ryan rejected a gas tax increase.
“It’s an opinion,” Shuster said of Ryan’s stance. “At some point, we got to do something.”
