Sen. Barbara Boxer

Federal transportation leaders recognize that sustainable transportation funding options are needed to meet America's infrastructure needs. At AASHTO's Annual Washington Briefing, different funding strategies were proposed by key Congress members.

March 1, 2016 - AASHTO Journal

President Obama, long opposed to increasing the gas tax, has proposed a $10-per-barrel oil fee to be paid by energy companies. It will fund his 21st Century Clean Transportation System to reduce carbon emissions and promote new vehicle technology.

February 5, 2016 - Politico

A three-week extension of federal transportation spending and three-year extension for railroads to install positive train control was signed on Oct. 29, the date the current highway extension expired.

October 30, 2015 - Transport Topics

We look at what happened in the Senate on Tuesday when the six-year DRIVE Act, relying on a variety of non-user fee revenue mechanisms to finance the Highway Trust Fund shortfall for three years, failed a procedural vote, and where it goes next.

July 23, 2015 - The Washington Post

The Senate's DRIVE Act is shaping up to be the first six-year transportation reauthorization bill since 2009. Notwithstanding the acronym, it's not all that bad, writes Tanya Snyder of Streetsblog USA. Finding funding for it is another story.

June 25, 2015 - National Journal

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) has reintroduced a bill to cut the federal gas tax by 80 percent and give transportation authority to states, known as devolution. Also, House Transportation Chair Bill Shuster is promoting repatriation as a funding source.

June 16, 2015 - The Hill

A few days before President Obama announced his 14 percent offshore corporate profits tax, Sens. Rand Paul and Barbara Boxer teamed-up to announce they would be offering a repatriation tax, somewhat similar to Obama's tax. Both fund infrastructure.

February 3, 2015 - The Bond Buyer

President Barack Obama is expected to propose a one-time, 14-percent tax on overseas profits from companies, resulting in a contribution of $238 billion toward a total $478 billion, six-year Highway Trust Fund package. But will Republicans agree?

February 2, 2015 - The Hill

Virginia's new 3.5% wholesales sales tax on motor vehicle fuels is set to increase to 5.1% on Jan.1, not because Congress failed to raise the two-decades-old federal gas tax but for something entirely unrelated to transportation: online sales taxes.

December 1, 2014 - The Washington Post

A surprise, groundbreaking agreement between China and the United States was unveiled in Beijing at the end of the APEC conference, providing hope that the world can reduce the threat from climate change.

November 12, 2014 - NPR

Rep. Bill Shuster, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, is the second powerful congressman to state that a fully funded, five to six year reauthorization bill can be done, acknowledging that funding challenges lie ahead.

October 13, 2014 - AASHTO Journal

The Senate will hear four amendments to the House bill, passed July 15, in the last week of July. Sens. Boxer, Carper, and Corker want the funding extension to terminate on December 19 rather than May 31. On August 1, DOT reduces payments to states.

July 27, 2014 - The Wall Street Journal

By a vote of 367-55, the House passed Rep. Dave Camp's "pension smoothing" bill to provide ten months of funding for the deficit-plagued Highway Trust Fund through May. A long-term (five- or six-year) funding plan will be attempted then.

July 16, 2014 - Politico Morning Transportation

Receiving a resounding vote of confidence from the Environment and Public Works Committee, the $265 billion, six-year MAP-21 reauthorization bill advanced on its path to keep federal transportation payments going to states through the summer.

May 19, 2014 - The Hill

Plenty, according to Tanya Snyder, Streetsblog USA editor, who finds Obama's Grow America plan far superior. Outside of not including a gas tax to fill the Trust Fund gap, she finds the proposal "underfunded and highway centric." She is not alone.

May 15, 2014 - Streetsblog USA

The bill to reauthorize the current surface transportation law, "Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century", a.k.a. MAP-21, was released on Monday and will be "marked up" on Thursday. Spending is kept at current levels of $50 billion a year.

May 13, 2014 - Bloomberg News

Last Thursday, House and Senate leaders announced agreement on an $8.2 billion waterways infrastructure bill, and if they have their way, it won't be their last major agreement. On Monday, a successor highway bill (to MAP-21) will be released.

May 13, 2014 - The Hill

At a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee meeting on Feb. 12, leaders from big labor, big business, AASHTO, and AMTRAK testified to the importance of keeping the Highway Trust Fund solvent. The first two specified increasing the gas tax.

February 14, 2014 - The Hill

Southern California's powerful regional planning association is one of the many public agencies across the United States that sees the future of road funding in a new technology called a 'black box'.

October 29, 2013 - Los Angeles Times

Could Virginia, the state that did away with its gasoline excise tax entirely, be the template for a new federal transportation funding system? By using multiple taxes and fees, they present an alternative to simply raising the federal gas tax.

October 23, 2013 - CQ Roll Call