AASHTO, 26 Other Groups urge support of Highway Trust Fund.
Press Release Summary:
AASHTO and 26 other groups joined in letter to Senators John Kerry, Lindsey Graham, and Joseph Lieberman, who are negotiating legislation that may include carbon tax on gasoline that could be passed on to drivers. One proposal would funnel revenue generated by tax into clean-energy research or subsidies for hybrid cars. According to letter, new fees placed on transportation fuels should be dedicated to Highway Trust Fund to improve nation's highways and public transportation systems.
Original Press Release:
AASHTO, 26 Other Groups Urge Lawmakers Not To Divert User Fees in Climate and Energy Legislation
The American Association of the State Highway and Transportation Officials is one of 27 transportation, industry, and labor organizations urging the lawmakers to ensure climate and energy legislation that "retains the long-standing principle of dedicating revenues derived from transportation motor fuels to improving the nation's highway and public transportation systems."
The organizations, ranging from transit to bicyclists, construction unions, and civil engineers, joined in a letter to Senators John Kerry (D-MA), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), who are currently negotiating legislation that reportedly may include a "carbon tax" on gasoline that could be passed on to drivers when they purchase motor fuels. One proposal would funnel the revenue generated by the tax into clean-energy research or subsidies for hybrid cars and not into the Federal Highway Trust Fund.
"Our surface transportation system faces monumental challenges," the April 2 letter reads. "The needs of our roads and transit systems far exceed current investment levels. The U.S. Department of Transportation estimates that more than $30 billion per year of new investment is needed simply to maintain our highways, bridges, and transit systems in their current state of repair, and $75 billion of new investment is needed annually to improve conditions and performance."
The letter states that "new fees placed on transportation fuels should be dedicated to the Highway Trust Fund and invested along with other surface transportation funds under a multi-year highway and transit authorization bill. Any proposal to divert user fees from motor fuels while our roads, bridges, and transit systems are neglected is not sound policy."
"These groups all agree that while the nation needs an effective strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Congress can ill afford to abandon the transportation system supported by the Highway Trust Fund," said John Horsley, AASHTO executive director.
Read the letter at downloads.transportation.org/letter-2010-04-01.pdf.
The organizations signing the letter are: American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA), American Public Transportation Association (APTA), Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), America Bikes, American Concrete Pavement Association (ACPA), American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC), American Highway Users Alliance, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), American Traffic Safety Services Association (ATSSA), American Trucking Associations (ATA), Associated Equipment Distributors (AED), Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), Association for Commuter Transportation (ACT), Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM), Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations (AMPO), International Union of Operating Engineers, Laborers' International Union of Operating Engineers, Laborers' International Union of North America (LiUNA!), League of American Bicyclists, National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA), National Association of Counties (NACo), National Association of Development Organizations (NADO), National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA), New Starts Working Group, Safe Routes to School National Partnership, Transportation Trades Department AFL-CIO, and the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America.
The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) is the "Voice of Transportation" representing State Departments of Transportation in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. AASHTO is a nonprofit, nonpartisan association serving as a catalyst for excellence in transportation.
