Congress’s gimmicks won’t fix highways

Congress’s most recent fight over highway spending seemed awfully familiar. Once again, authorized cash for transportation projects was dwindling. Once again, no one could agree on a proper extension. And once again, Congress ended up passing a stopgap bill – the 34th in six years, in fact.

By now, it should go without saying that this is no way to pay for public works. The Senate hoped a witch’s brew of budgeting gimmicks could be stirred up and transformed into cash. The House hoped more aggressive tax collection might do the trick.

What both approaches had in common was that they had nothing to do with highways. They thus negated the primary virtue of the Highway Trust Fund, which is that it’s paid for by the very people who use the roads, via an excise tax on gas.

Sadly, the substance of the Senate’s long-term bill was solid. It was bipartisan and requested only modestly higher spending. And it sensibly boosted funding to fix battered bridges and interstates.

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Now, as Congress heads off for vacation, optimists hope the two houses might still hash out a compromise once they reconvene, or that a separate plan can top up the trust fund when the stopgap expires.

There’s a better way. That is to modestly increase the federal gas tax – which has been stuck at 18.4 cents a gallon since 1993 – and index it to inflation. Then Congress should look for new ways to pay for highways, bearing in mind that Americans are driving less and cars are becoming more fuel-efficient. The goal should be to ensure that highway infrastructure is still largely paid for by drivers.

A federal tax on vehicle-miles traveled – an idea several states are considering – may be one path forward. Another might be to gradually wind down the trust fund and start taxing oil at refineries instead. Imposing more user fees on roads and bridges, and expanding the use of public-private partnerships for construction projects could help.

The main thing to avoid is yet more budget trickery. For a time, budgets can overlook some sleight of hand. Roads and bridges aren’t so forgiving. n

This is a Bloomberg View editorial.

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