Indiana just passed a long-term road-building plan. The Trump Administration might be next
President Trump has said he wants a 10-year, trillion-dollar infrastructure plan, covering not just roads and bridges but ports and airports. Ed Mortimer with the U-S Chamber says it shouldn’t just be new federal spending — he told an Indianapolis transportation conference Congress should follow Indiana’s lead and pay for it.
Indiana’s 10-cents-a-gallon gas tax hike was the state’s first in 14 years, and was intended to catch up to inflation since then. Mortimer says the federal gas tax hasn’t been touched in 24 years, and says that’s wiped out 40-percent of the government’s purchasing power.
Mortimer says Congress doesn’t have to use the gas tax. He’d rather see a range of money-raising tools to choose from, potentially including a tax based on miles driven. But he warns any tax hike will have to satisfy taxpayers that their money will be well spent. Right now, he says regulations chew up 20 cents of every federal highway dollar,with projects requiring approval from 17 different agencies.
But Mortimer says the nation’s infrastructure is showing its age. He says the U-S is overdue for a long-range plan.
