House Speaker John Boehner didn’t rule out the possibility of raising the gasoline tax as a way to put more money into the insolvent federal Highway Trust Fund during a Sunday “60 Minutes” interview.
When discussing whether a series of policy proposals were “dead” in the new GOP-controlled Congress, CBS correspondent Scott Pelley said the Ohio Republican could “fix” the fund by raising the 18.4-cent per gallon tax for the first time since 1993.
Boehner, who appeared alongside Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., didn’t dismiss the idea outright as a way to shore up the fund, which has a projected $10 billion shortfall this year and could reach $120 billion in 2024.
“Well, listen. When the Democrats controlled the House, the Senate, and the White House, they couldn’t increase the gas tax. We believe that through tax reform, a couple of other options that are being looked at, we can find the funds to fund a long-term, highway bill. It’s critically important to the country,” Boehner said.
Senate Republicans in charge of committees that oversee the nation’s highway fund and infrastructure say increasing the gas tax is on the table. But it’s still a politically difficult thing to pass — especially in the House, where nearly every Republican has signed the Americans for Tax Reform pledge to vote against new taxes or raising existing ones.
