The news was mixed, indicating that gas prices have dropped — except for the fact that they have increased.
Sound confusing? Well, according to AAA Motor Club, gas prices are expected to be much lower this summer than they were a year ago. The national average on June 1 was $2.75 a gallon, which represented a 92-cent drop from the previous year. On the other hand, that price also represented a 71-cent increase since late January. Anyway, now that we have enumerated the volatility of gas prices, the gist is this: Driving, and therefore gasoline consumption, is expected to increase this summer when compared to 2014.
That, however, is not the point of this missive. No, we come today to talk about gas taxes, because any discussion about driving inevitably morphs into an analysis of how we pay for roads and bridges.
Nationally, Congress once again has demonstrated legislative negligence in abdicating its responsibility to the nation’s infrastructure. The Senate recently approved a two-month extension of the Highway Trust Fund authorization, maintaining the federal gas tax that has been at 18.4 cents per gallon since 1993. This scattershot attempt at a short-term fix serves as no fix whatsoever for the insolvent fund, which for years has been propped up by transfers from the general fund.
Such negligence is business as usual. According to “The Hill,” over the past 12 years Congress has passed two dozen short-term extensions for the Highway Trust Fund rather than broach a sustainable solution. In the meantime, the nation’s infrastructure has suffered; the American Society of Civil Engineers gives the quality of the nation’s roads a grade of “D,” which might be passing but is hardly acceptable.
Congress has been hampered by the public’s aversion to any sort of tax increase, but a little political courage would provide improvements that would bolster the nation’s economy.
On a more local level, legislators in Olympia apparently have forged a basic agreement to raise $15 billion through an incremental three-year increase of 11.7 cents per gallon to the state gas tax, which currently stands at 37.5 cents. The bill is languishing in the Legislature as lawmakers haggle over the state’s operating budget, but some form of gas tax increase appears inevitable.
Preliminary proposals indicate that little of that revenue would find its way back to Clark County in the form of transportation projects, and local lawmakers should continue to stress the need for improved infrastructure in this corner of the state. The fact is that Washington as a whole is in need of projects to keep the economy moving.
Whether talking about the need for federal funding or state funding, updates are required in how this country pays for its infrastructure. Because the federal gas tax has not kept pace with inflation over the past two decades, its purchasing power has been diminished; because consumers are increasingly turning to fuel-efficient or alternative-power vehicles, gas taxes are yielding less revenue per mile driven.
Oregon this year approved a plan in which drivers may pay taxes per mile driven in lieu of a gas tax. This might seem unfair for those who have chosen to purchase electric cars, but gas taxes are not designed to punish drivers for purchasing gas; they are designed to extract a user fee from those who use the roads. Washington last year approved money to develop a similar program, and the state should pursue that. One way or another, changes are required to address the nation’s crumbling infrastructure.
