Corker Joins Senate Dems’ Calls to Reject House GOP Trust-Fund Proposal
Senate Democratic leaders are getting help from Tennessee Republican Bob Corker in calling on colleagues to oppose a House Republican bill that would provide a short-term boost for a cash-strapped federal highway account, limiting the bill’s chances of passing the Senate.
“If Congress believes these transportation projects are important, then Congress should have the courage to pay for it in the same timeframe the money is being spent rather than cowardly throw future generations under the bus,” Corker said. “This disgraceful practice of borrowing money to cover a few months of spending and paying for it over a decade is nothing more than generational theft.”
Two top Democrats on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Chairwoman Barbara Boxer of California and Tom Carper of Delaware, also have come out against the bill sponsored by Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) that would provide $10 billion to keep the Highway Trust Fund solvent through May.
House GOP highway plan relies on short term accounting gimmicks rather than real solutions to permanently #FixTheTrustFund (1/2)
— Senator Tom Carper (@SenatorCarper) July 8, 2014 House GOP plan also undermines state #transportation plans as roads & bridges crumble. Let’s #FixTheTrustFund in 2014. (2/2)
— Senator Tom Carper (@SenatorCarper) July 8, 2014
"The House's plan to kick the can down the road and pass a temporary patch for the Highway Trust Fund until next May derails the effort to pass a long-term transportation bill this year,” Boxer said in a news release.
On July 10, the House Ways and Means panel has scheduled consideration of Camp’s bill, which would boost the trust fund by relying on the accounting practice known as pension smoothing. That practice allows companies with defined benefit retirement plans to assume higher interest rates when calculating the amount of money needed to contribute for employees’ retirements. The bill also would extend customs fees until 2024.
COMING THURSDAY: Live coverage of Ways and Means hearing
At a July 9 press conference, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said he would allow a House vote on Camp’s bill this month if it is voted out of committee, triggering a legislative collision course with the Senate, which is expected to unveil its own plan.
Last month, Corker and Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) proposed increasing the gas and diesel tax by 6 cents each year for the next two years, for a total increase of 12 cents. But the bill, which would be indexed to inflation using the Consumer Price Index, has yet to be considered in committee.
Congress has not raised taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel since 1993. The tax on gas is 18.4 cents per gallon, and the diesel tax is 24.4 cents per gallon. Meanwhile, the Department of Transportation has projected the Highway Trust Fund will dip below the critical $4 billion funding level as soon as late July, resulting in a slowdown of reimbursements to states’ transportation agencies.
