Highway Trust Fund Is ‘Broke,’ Ex-Transportation Secretary LaHood Says
(original source NPR)
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Let’s talk now about ground transportation. The government is running out of money for highways, bridges and mass transit. The money comes from the Highway Trust Fund, which is usually filled through a gas tax, a bit more than .18 cents per gallon, which you pay anytime you’re at a filling station. The tax no longer brings in enough money for the current pace of construction. Lawmakers don’t agree what to do, although they have until the end of the month to act. Ray LaHood argues that the answer simple – raises the gas tax. LaHood is a former Republican congressman and also President Obama’s former transportation secretary.
RAY LAHOOD: The gas tax in America has not been raised for 20 years, so I don’t know of anything that hadn’t been raised in 20 years. And the reason that Congress can’t pass a multi-year transportation bill is because they haven’t been able to come to grips with the idea that they need to raise the gas tax.”
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