WASHINGTON -- A proposed federal gas tax hike of 40 cents per gallon over the next several years is not sitting well with many drivers and legislators across North Texas.
A divided special commission urged the increase Tuesday and called for drastic changes to fix aging bridges and roads and reduce traffic deaths.
The tax hasn’t been raised since 1993, but local drivers are already feeling the pinch of spiking oil prices and rising costs of living.
In many states, including Texas, the population is growing more quickly than tax revenues, making for difficulty in maintaining roads.
The two-year study by the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission is the first to propose broad changes after the devastating bridge collapse in Minneapolis last August shone a spotlight on the unsteady conditions of the nation's infrastructure.
Calling for immediate action, the congressionally created panel warns that "applying patches" is no longer acceptable, saying the nation risks tens of thousands of highway casualties each year and millions of dollars lost in economic growth.
Gov. Rick Perry issued a press release Tuesday urging members of Congress to reject the proposal. Perry argued that the federal government should step aside and allow the states to retain their dollars and choose how to solve their own revenue issues.
The 68-page report was supported by nine members of the commission, and is expected to reignite debate over raising gas taxes.
In a 10-page dissent, the commission's chairwoman, Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, and two other members agreed with several aspects of the report but sharply criticized the proposal for higher gasoline taxes.
She and the two commissioners are calling instead for sole reliance on tolls and private investment, which Peters said would avoid sending millions of dollars of new tax revenue to Washington that end up as congressional pork.
Under the proposal to raise gas taxes, the current tax of 18.4 cents per gallon would be increased by 5 cents to 8 cents annually for five years and then indexed to inflation afterward to help fix the infrastructure, expand public transit and highways as well as broaden railway and rural access. The increase is designed to take effect in 2009, after President Bush leaves office.
Among the recommendations, which are expected to cost $225 billion each year for the next 50 years:
--Work to cut traffic fatalities in half over the next 17 years by urging states to embrace new strategies to improve safety.
--Ease traffic congestion by expanding state and local public transit systems and highway capacity.
--Protect the environment by smoothing traffic flow, encouraging alternative commute options such as carpooling and public transit and promoting energy-efficient construction and lighting in transit systems to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
--Seek to develop new energy sources with new research programs costing $200 million annually over the next decade.
The report also calls for the country to rebuild and expand its rail network to meet a growing demand for alternatives to congested highways and to promote partnerships between the public and private sectors at U.S. ports.
The commission was formed by Congress in 2005 to study the future needs of the nation's surface transportation system, which includes roads, mass-transit systems, ports and rail lines -- as well as to recommend funding options.
The report comes as state governments and several business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers, are calling on the federal government to raise gas taxes to pay for substantial transportation improvements. The Minneapolis bridge collapse, which killed 13 people and injured about 100, also drew new calls for additional spending.
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