WASHINGTON The Trump administration and congressional Democrats have found something they agree on and it could mean higher taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel.
Last week, President Donald Trumps energy secretary, Elaine Chao, told senators that a gas tax hike was on the table when asked whether the White House would support such a move.
And this week, Democrats are indicating that they too are ready to consider a tax increase an effort that would fund publicly popular infrastructure improvements but has hit a hard wall of opposition for years from fiscal conservatives and advocates for low-income people alike.
I dont think it should be off the table, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Washington Democrat and co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, told McClatchy when asked about the prospect of the increase. The caucus has taken no formal position.
Several important, difficult steps remain before the current tax, 18.4 cents a gallon for gasoline and 24.4 cents a gallon for diesel fuel, would increase. But some sort of infrastructure package is under serious discussion in both the House and Senate by members of both parties, and Trump has said hes open to ideas.
Freshmen House Democrats met privately Wednesday with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California to discuss plans. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, an Oregon Democrat who has been pushing for new infrastructure revenue sources for years, urged colleagues to spend the next few months building support back home for ways to fund spending.
People ought to have their own community forums, Blumenauer said.
Republicans and Democrats are motivated by the same forces: Constituent demands that infrastructure, notably roads and bridges, be improved now.
A total of 47,052 of Americas 616,087 bridges were structurally deficient and in poor condition, according to a report this week from the American Road & Transportation Builders Association. It said the pace of repair slowed to its lowest point in five years.
Parts of Route 101, Interstate 405 and Interstate 5 in California had the most traveled structurally deficient bridges.
Iowa tops the list of states with the biggest number of structurally deficient bridges, followed by Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, California, New York, Louisiana and Mississippi.
Theres also political motivation to hike motor fuel taxes: Its easier to increase a tax this year rather than in an election year.
Federal fuel taxes were last raised since 1993, and every time members of Congress try for an increase, theyre up against conservative refusals and liberal reluctance.
Those voices remain influential. It is political stupidity at the highest and most suicidal level, Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, said of a higher gas tax on Fox Business Networks Bulls & Bears program recently. His group has been a leading opponent of any higher taxes.
He told McClatchy that the everything-is-on-the-table talk means, Youve told people absolutely nothing and giving them no reason to be mad at you.
