WASHINGTON—The Tire Industry Association (TIA) opposes a new bill in the House of Representatives that would raise the federal fuel tax by 15 cents a gallon to increase funding for the U.S. transportation system.
“Rather than keep raising taxes,
we need to look at where the money's going and who's paying,” said Roy Littlefield, TIA executive vice president.
By opposing H.R. 3636, TIA stands in contradiction to the American Trucking Associations (ATA), the AAA, the AFL-CIO, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and many other groups that have declared their support for the measure.
Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., announced the introduction of H.R. 3636 at a Dec. 4 press conference.
He noted that the federal fuel tax, currently 18.3 cents per gallon on gasoline and 27.3 cents per gallon on diesel fuel, hasn't been increased since the Clinton administration. This leaves the Highway Trust Fund with insufficient funds to pay for road, bridge and mass transit projects, he said.
“Today, with inflation and increased fuel efficiency for vehicles, the average motorist is paying about half as much per mile as they did in 1993,” Rep. Blumenauer said.
The ATA issued a statement Dec. 4 supporting the bill, but Mr. Littlefield said that “15 or 20 cents a gallon won't be enough to solve the problem. How high do we go?”
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