OPINION:
“I see an America where a mighty network of highways spreads across our country.” – President Dwight Eisenhower, Oct. 1, 1956, Speech in Lexington, Kentucky.
Eisenhower foresaw how critical the efficient movement of people and goods across America would be for our economic growth, and he was right. As the second-highest ranking Republican on the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee, and the representative from Arkansas’ First District, which includes Interstates 40, 55 and 555, as well as future Interstates 57 and 69, I see the wisdom of Eisenhower’s vision, and I want to ensure that vision expands for our collective future. That means focusing now on the next surface transportation reauthorization bill.
After being completely shut out of the drafting process for the last surface transportation bill – the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, or IIJA – I know my colleagues on the T&I Committee are anxious to fix the problems we’ve seen with it. IIJA was an enormous investment, but it ignored the biggest challenge we face, and that’s how to pay for transportation investments.
I go back to Eisenhower.
“A sound Federal highway program, I believe, can and should stand on its own feet, with highway users providing the total dollars necessary for improvement and new construction.” – President Dwight Eisenhower, Feb. 22, 1955, Special Message to Congress Regarding National Highway Program.
Again, Eisenhower was right. We must rely on a user-pays system to ensure our nation’s highway programs are well funded in a predictable and sustainable manner. The Highway Trust Fund (HTF), which is largely financed through an 18.4 cent per gallon gasoline tax and a 24.4 cent per gallon diesel fuel tax, along with other excise taxes on truck tires and sales, is the main funding mechanism for our nation’s federal highway projects. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that in 2024, HTF revenue will be $47 billion, but federal highway expenditures will total $65 billion. That’s an $18 billion deficit.
Between fiscal years 2027 and 2031, the HTF revenue gap will average $40 billion annually. To fill the shortfall, which began in 2008, Congress began transferring money from the U.S. Treasury’s general fund. Since then, over $275 billion has been transferred. IIJA continued that irresponsible path to the tune of $118 billion.
Most of us know that the HTF’s fuel taxes haven’t been updated since 1993. No business would be open today if it charged the same prices it did in 1993. We’re in need of more sustainable and rational revenue sources.
Diesel and gasoline taxes, excise taxes, and interest payments comprise the revenue mix for the HTF. Transit pays nothing into the HTF, but it takes roughly 13% of fund’s deposits. Alternative fuel vehicles also pay nothing into the HTF, but they use the roads every day. In fact, they’re about 30% heavier than comparable gas-powered vehicles, and their heavier weight causes greater road damage. They take more than they give to the national highway system.
To fulfill Eisenhower’s charge that users pay for the highways, we must develop a new financing model incorporating user fees, a pay-as-you-go structure so that Americans aren’t saddled with enormous bills all at one time, and a safeguard against the government double- or triple-taxing Americans for using the same road mile. Finally, we should right-size our spending so we’re prioritizing essential federal projects with the greatest cost-benefit ratio and allowing our states to tackle projects with smaller, regional impacts.
This won’t be easy. We’re going to have to strike the right balance between fuel and excise taxes, vehicle miles-traveled fees, inflation adjustments, new sources of revenue, and more. But the T&I Committee is up to the task. We’re going to work with the Ways and Means Committee to make sure we have the financing balance right. We’re going to work across the aisle because transportation success is something we all want. I’m committed to finding the bipartisan solutions we need.
The National Bureau of Economic Research found in 2019 that, for about 75% of all existing highway segments in the country, adding just 10 additional lane miles would generate an economic benefit of $10-$20 million per segment. For some very high-traffic areas in the New York metro area, that benefit was above $500 million. Clearly, highways are economic growth drivers. It’s going to take a collective effort and hard choices, but just as Eisenhower said 68 years ago, I see an America where a mighty network of highways spreads across our country.
• Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Ark, represents Arkansas’ 1st District. Since coming to Congress in 2011, he has voiced the concerns of his district while bringing solutions to the national table. Crawford is the second most senior Republican on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and currently serves as the chairman of the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit. In his role as subcommittee chairman, he has led hearings and worked on legislation to address supply chain deficiencies and trucking policy.
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