“The immediate danger has passed,” says Brian Deery, senior director of the Associated General Contractors’ highway and transportation division. “But it certainly is right there on the surface.” Jay Hansen, National Asphalt Pavement Association vice president for government affairs, adds that “the whole notion [of a fuel-tax suspension] is on the table. I think it could come up at any time....I think Congress wants to provide some sort of relief to the motoring public.”
Industry did breathe a bit easier on April 25, when a proposed amendment from Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) to suspend the fuels tax for 60 days failed on a procedural point of order.