NPR: Gas Tax Hike to Fuel Fixes to Roads and Bridges
media mention“There’s kind of been a switch that’s been flipped,” says Carl Davis, a senior analyst with the nonprofit Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy
Davis says gas tax increases are now on the table in states across the country, from New Jersey to Utah to South Carolina to South Dakota. Democratic governors in Delaware, Vermont and Kentucky, and other states are also looking to possibly raise gas taxes, as has been done in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Hampshire and Wyoming in the last two years.
“There have been overwhelming infrastructure needs for quite awhile and now that gas prices are lower, it’s a little bit more politically feasible to talk about raising the gas tax,” he says.
Davis says states are looking to raise their own gas taxes because the federal highway fund is lacking.
“The federal gas tax hasn’t gone up in over 21 years and the states don’t have the luxury of just sitting around and doing nothing on this issue. They have to find a way to keep their bridges from falling down and keep their roads from developing too many potholes,” he argues.