Tag: gas tax: Page 9

Roadbuilding

Wisconsin approves $670 million worth of repairs

The Wisconsin Transportation Panel has approved three major highway repair projects that will total approximately $670 million. Gov. Scott Walker, who chairs the 15-member Transportation Projects Commission of lawmakers and citizens, said the approved projects were needed for the safety of the state’s transportation infrastructure. “The major highway projects being recommended for construction have undergone […]

December 2, 2014

Roadbuilding

Michigan Senate votes to raise gas tax

The Michigan Senate has passed a bill to raise the state’s gas tax. The bill would approximately double Michigan’s fuel tax to raise about $1 billion a year more to fix transportation infrastructure. If the bill passes the House, the gas tax could increase from 19 cents a gallon all the way to 41 cents a gallon […]

November 25, 2014

Roadbuilding

Gas-tax increase passes Michigan Senate

The Michigan Senate passed a bill last week that could potentially generate around $1 billion a year for the state’s transportation infrastructure. The measure, which passed in a 23-14 vote, would set the wholesale gasoline tax at 9 percent on April 1, 2015, and increase yet again on Jan. 1, 2018 to 15.5 percent. That means the […]

November 19, 2014

Roadbuilding

DOL and the aggregates industry talk roads, jobs, and safety

Collaboration with the aggregates industry regarding challenges facing it and the nation was the focus of an Oct. 20 roundtable convened by Secretary of Labor Tom Perez, with input from Assistant Secretary of Labor Joe Main. The roundtable included members of the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA), eight state association executives, and eight […]

November 5, 2014

Roadbuilding

Volunteers wanted: Oregon to test mileage tax

The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) seeks 5,000 volunteer drivers to test a pay-as-you-drive road tax. If the trial program is successful, a mileage tax could become a replacement for the current gas tax. Anyone who would like to volunteer for the program can sign up on ODOT’s website starting on July 1, 2015. Volunteers selected […]

October 31, 2014

Roadbuilding

Ray LaHood: ‘We need a big pot of money’ to fix America’s roads and bridges

Continuing his “America is one big pothole” theme, former U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood used an appearance at a Caterpillar press event Wednesday night to lambast the present direction of U.S. transportation policy. Calling the 2-year transportation bill passed in 2012 “chintzy,” LaHood called upon Congress to think as roads as economic corridors. […]

October 31, 2014

Roadbuilding

Gov. Scott Walker considers replacing Wisconsin’s gas tax

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is considering replacing the state’s gasoline tax with a sales tax on gas and alternative vehicle fuel sources to stabilize long-term transportation funding. However, Walker offered few specifics, and the impact of charging a sales tax to consumers at the pump is unclear in comparison to the existing tax on gasoline suppliers that gets […]

October 16, 2014

Roadbuilding

Boxer urges House Ways & Means Committee to save Highway Trust Fund

Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee has made it clear that saving the Highway Trust Fund is among her top priorities. In a letter to Congressman Dave Camp, Chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means, and Congressman Sander Levin, she urges for help in finding a long-term solution. […]

October 14, 2014

Business

Road builders, construction groups oppose bill to lower gas tax, surrender federal highway authority to states

Construction groups and transportation interests have written Congress to express opposition to the so-called “devolution” of the federal highway program and the proposed Transportation Empowerment Act. The bill, introduced in the House and Senate last fall, transfers almost all authority over federal highway and transit programs to the states over a five-year period. It would […]

September 18, 2014

Roadbuilding

GOP senators predict Highway Trust Fund solution

Senators John Boozman (R-Ark.) and James Inhofe (R-Okla.) have predicted a long-term solution to the Highway Trust Fund (HTF). They predict lawmakers will come up with an idea to fund U.S. transportation projects beyond the gas tax. “Coming up between now and May, you’ll see a new funding mechanism that is going to change how […]

September 2, 2014

Roadbuilding

Recent toll road poll proves nothing; private financing of public roads is still a bad idea

The Reason Foundation and the Alliance for Toll-Free Interstates recently traded jabs over a poll that purports to show Americans prefer toll roads as a solution to our declining transportation infrastructure. Not unexpectedly, the Reason-Rupe Poll  found favor with Reason’s longstanding position advocating toll roads. The Alliance shot back with a press release citing a Rasmussen Report that said […]

September 1, 2014

Roadbuilding

Will the Real Leader Please Stand Up on Nationwide Tolling?

It’s time to take a much closer look at tolling on a national level to fund our transportation infrastructure, but we will require leadership at a whole new level. The existing method, the gas tax, is obsolete. I won’t waste another word discussing why it’s broken because the design and construction industry has heard the […]

August 21, 2014