With several proposals on the table but no Capitol Hill consensus yet about a revenue source for a new long-term surface transportation bill, the American Road & Transportation Builders Association has put forward another idea: a sharp increase in federal motor-fuels taxes.



The ARTBA plan, announced on March 12, calls for a 15¢-per-gal. boost in the gasoline and diesel tax, but  it also has an unusual wrinkle—a $90 a year rebate to motorists to offset the fuel-tax hike’s impact on their pocketbooks.

The federal gas tax now is 18.4¢ and the diesel levy is 24.4¢; those rates took effect in October 1993.

A tax hike is likely to be a tough sell in the Republican-controlled Congress. For example, House Ways and Means Committee  Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) in January ruled out a gas-tax increase. A Ways and Means spokesman told ENR via email that Ryan’s position “has not changed."