With the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) set to become insolvent by July 31, 2015, the House and Senate Committees responsible for generating revenue for the program each held hearings this week on potential funding options.
A number of members advocated for increasing the federal gas tax, but this approach was rejected by Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI), the Chairmen of the respective committees. Chairman Ryan stated flatly that he would not consider raising the gas tax as an option to fund the HTF. Several Republicans expressed a desire to remove transit funding from the HTF in order to devote more money to roads and bridges. As in the past, this idea was rejected by Democrats in both the House and the Senate, and many of the Republicans suggesting it recognized that removing transit funding was politically unpopular. Members also spoke of the need to streamline environmental reviews in order to expedite project delivery, and explained how doing so could reduce project costs and reduce the shortfall in the HTF. The House Ways and Means Committee is likely to hold another hearing on this topic next week.