Two U.S. senators on Wednesday proposed raising federal gasoline and diesel fuel taxes by 12 cents a gallon over the next two years to keep a road and bridge fund from going broke, The Associated Press reported.
The plan offered by Senators Chris Murphy, from Connecticut, and Bob Corker, from Tennessee, would raise the 18.4-cents-a-gallon federal gas tax and 24.4-cents-a- gallon diesel tax each by 12 cents over the next two years, and then index the taxes to keep pace with inflation, according to the AP. The increase would be applied in two increments of 6 cents each.
The plan also calls for offsetting the tax increases with tax cuts the Senators said could be done by permanently extending six of 50 federal tax breaks that expired this year. But they indicated they would be open to additional suggestions for offsets, the AP reported.
The gasoline tax now stands at 18.4 cents a gallon, and the diesel tax at 24.4 cents a gallon, according to the AP. The politically sensitive levies have not been increased since 1993.
The senators' plan faces an uphill fight this year, with congressional elections coming in November, the AP reported.
Senators Bob Corker, a Republican, and Chris Murphy, a Democrat, called for the tax increase with the new revenue going to replenishing the federal Highway Trust Fund, according to the AP.
The fund pays for about half the country's spending on transportation projects and is projected to run out of money by the end of August, the AP reported.
"If Americans feel that having modern roads and bridges are important then Congress should have the courage to pay for it," said Corker, in a joint statement.
"I know raising the gas tax isn't an easy choice," said Murphy to the AP, "but we're not elected to make easy decisions - we're elected to make the hard ones."
Groups ranging from the AFL-CIO labor federation and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have lobbied Congress to boost fuel taxes, but there has been little appetite among lawmakers to raise the taxes in an election year, according to the AP.
Murphy and Corker called for raising the taxes by 6 cents a year over the next two years, while offsetting the increased federal revenue with other tax cuts, the AP reported. They also proposed indexing the fuel taxes to keep pace with inflation.
