In advance of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s markup of the BUILD America 250 Act tomorrow, the Highway Users sent a letter of support to the committee. The letter focuses on several Highway Users priorities that were included in the bill and it highlights a key priority that was not considered.
Of particular note, we support the increased funding for trust funded highway projects above the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act levels, we support language to streamline the permitting process, a greater focus on state formula funds, and increased funding for bridges. Additionally, we support money for truck parking, an increased focus on freight bottlenecks, and increased funding for safety projects like the HSIP.
The Highway Users have been particularly focused on fixing the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) in this highway bill. The Highway Trust Fund is facing insolvency in 2028 and an overall shortfall in the HTF of $300 billion over the next decade. We have proposed a full reform of the HTF which eliminates the taxes on fuel and trucks which make up the HTF and replacing them with an annual weight-based fee, collected by the states at point of registration. This would fully fund the HTF and end the need to rely on general fund transfers to meet our HTF funding needs. While the Committee has shown strong interest in this proposal, they chose to include an annual fee of $130 Electric Vehicles and $35 Plug-in Electric Hybrid Vehicles. These fees escalate by $5 every two years and are capped at $150 for Electric Vehicles and $50 for Plug-in Electric Vehicles. The Highway Users believe we need to fully reform the HTF to sustain it long-term and that these fees will not do anything to make the HTF more stable. In fact the current bill increases the shortfall in the HTF over the next 5 years, with estimates from the ENO Transportation Center stating this bill will require $160 billion in general fund revenue to shore up the HTF.
Click here to view the letter sent by the Highway Users to the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
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