Gas Tax
Basics
Congress Agrees to Kick the Can for 90 More Days
Yesterday, before taking off for a two-week recess, Congress passed a three-month extension of SAFETEA-LU, the ninth since it first expired on September 30, 2009. It now only needs the president's signature sometime before midnight on Saturday to become law.
March 30, 2012
The Utter Futility of a Gas Tax “Holiday”
Disclaimer: The House and Senate, in the grand scheme of things, have plenty of time to hack together a short-term extension of transportation funding, or even to pass the Senate bill outright if they felt like it.
March 28, 2012
Infographic: When Reagan, the GOP, and Democrats Doubled the Gas Tax
Something to keep in mind while the House GOP leadership toys with the idea of sending national transportation policy back to the 1950s…
March 20, 2012
Flashback: Ronald Reagan Touts Gas Tax Hike, Transit Funding as Job Creators
On January 6, 1983, the icon of the modern conservative movement, Ronald Reagan, signed legislation to raise the gas tax for the first time in more than two decades, devoting a portion of the revenue to transit.
February 16, 2012
Streetsies 2011: The Final Installment
Tomorrow is the last day of 2011, folks. I wish you a Happier New Year than this one was.
December 30, 2011
States Forfeit $10 Billion Annually Thanks to Outdated Gas Taxes
The gas tax: It's the holy grail of our screwed up transportation system. We can't have good infrastructure because no one has the political cojones to raise it. No one has the cojones to raise it because the economy is awful. But anemic investment in our country's infrastructure isn't exactly good for the economy.
December 15, 2011
As Washington Drags Its Feet, States Take the Lead on Mileage Fees
Oregon, true to its history as the first state to implement a gas tax, was also the first state to consider getting rid of it -- in exchange for adopting a mileage-based system for highway funding. And the Beaver state isn’t alone: A number of other states have done studies and introduced legislation to charge drivers for the distance they travel instead of the gasoline they consume.
December 5, 2011
Is Transpo Funding Fundamentally a PR Problem? Five Ex-DOT Chiefs Discuss
How can you convince Americans that transportation is important enough to invest in?
December 2, 2011
Even the Godfather of Rail~Volution Wouldn’t Raise the Gas Tax Right Now
At Rail~Volution yesterday, Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) -- also known as the godfather of the “rail~volution” -- said even he wouldn’t raise the gas tax right now.
October 19, 2011
Lessons From the Former Chairman: Oberstar on Ending the Interstate Era
Streetsblog had a chance today to ask the former Democratic chief of the House Transportation Committee, Rep. James Oberstar of Minnesota, about life since the 2010 election, when he lost by a hair to Republican Chip Cravaack. He said he's spending his post-Congress time traveling to France, getting paid to say things he used to say for free, and telling his four kids and seven grandkids the story of his wife, who succombed to breast cancer 20 years ago.
October 14, 2011