Free Republic

The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), meeting in New Orleans Friday, approved a motion to call on Congress to shore up the diminishing Highway Trust Fund with an increase in the federal gas tax. Last hiked in 1993, the 18.4-cent tax is the primary funding source for federal highway projects. Increased use of fuel-efficient vehicles and non-petroleum fuels as well as cutbacks Americans have made on their driving have negatively impacted the revenue collected from the tax. "The time has come for policymakers at all levels of government to take a serious look at transportation funding," Oregon State Sen....

As fuel prices rise, gas tax receipts drop, and money for roads and bridges dries up - Gas prices are soaring. That's the bad news.But as they soar, motorists drive less, and that produces some benefits: less air pollution and less congestion. That's the good news.And then there's the bad news about the good news. The federal gas tax is levied on a per-gallon basis. So the less people drive and the less gas they use, the less the federal government collects from gas taxes. So it is that recent record high gas prices have produced record low gas tax...