Chamber Of Commerce Will Push To Raise National Gasoline Tax
16 July 2009 - 6:46AM
Dow Jones News
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said Wednesday it will attempt to
do what a string of economists and urban planners couldn't:
convince lawmakers and the public to raise the federal gasoline tax
to pay for better roads.
The new push by the powerful business lobby, which includes a
six-figure ad campaign, comes as Congress has begun debating how to
pay for a growing list of needed repairs to the nation's highways,
bridges and mass-transit systems. Boosting the 18.4-cent federal
tax on a gallon of gasoline by roughly 10 cents a gallon would
cover the growing funding gap while creating jobs and improving
mobility, Chamber officials said Wednesday.
"Just damn do it," Chamber President Thomas Donohue said
Wednesday at a press briefing, at which he called on Congress not
to delay action on a new highway bill - as the Obama Administration
has proposed. Wednesday, the Senate Energy and Public Works
Committee backed a plan to put off debate over new highway funding
for 18 months, extending current funding levels until then.
A boost in highway spending could also be a boon for Chamber
members like Caterpillar Inc. (CAT), the heavy-equipment maker that
has joined the lobbying campaign.
About 100 business executives affiliated with the Chamber fanned
out on Capitol Hill Wednesday to meet with lawmakers. The
executives ranged from small retailers from North Myrtle Beach,
S.C., to Office Depot Inc. (ODP) Chief Executive Steve Odland.
While the Chamber has previously called for a gas-tax increase,
the group is ramping up lobbying because now is an opportune time
to make such a move, with gas prices well below last summer's peak
of $4 a gallon, Donohue said.
The Chamber has begun paying for billboards in various states
and ads in Capitol Hill newspapers advocating a boost in
transportation spending.
The gas tax hasn't been raised since 1993, and an increase is
seen as a risky political move that would invite a public backlash,
particularly during a recession. Transportation Secretary Ray
LaHood repeated in a congressional hearing this week that the
administration wouldn't raise the gas tax during a recession.
But Mr. Donohue said the chamber will try to assure officials
that businesses will support such a move, providing cover for
lawmakers.
"We certainly want to negate this issue of a gas tax as a
campaign issue," said Janet Kavinoky, a transportation lobbyist for
the U.S. Chamber. "When these members go home, they've got to hear
from their constituents, 'This is OK.'"
She said that while many lawmakers are still expressing fears
that they would draw voters' ire by voting for a gas-tax increase,
she has seen "cracks in the armor," with some expressing more
openness to a fuel-tax increase, at least in the mid-term.
Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., chairwoman of the Environment and
Public Works Committee, said during a hearing last month that she
opposed an immediate gas-tax increase but would be open to
eventually tying fuel-tax increases to inflation.
Office Depot's Mr. Odland said the idea that Congress is
unwilling to raise taxes is "laughable." He cited climate-change
legislation that would force businesses to purchase permits for
greenhouse-gas emissions, and a proposed surtax on the wealthiest
Americans to pay for health-care coverage.
"We're raising taxes all over the place," Mr. Odland told
reporters Wednesday, saying gas taxes should be considered "user
fees" on drivers and businesses. "Stop with those taxes and let's
start with the user fees."
The Chamber is supporting legislation by Rep. James Oberstar,
D-Minn., chairman of the House Transportation Committee, to spend
$500 billion over six years on transportation projects - a 40%
increase over current spending.
Jim Berard, a spokesman for Mr. Oberstar, said the Chamber's
lobbying campaign is "welcome" as a way to gather support for
increased funding, but that a short-term spike in the gas tax is
unlikely.
"The political environment here in Washington and nationwide
would appear to be opposed to any increase" in the fuel tax, Mr.
Berard said.
"The economic reality is that people are out of jobs, money is
tight, the economy is stagnant. So a tax directly to the consumer
of any size would most likely not be welcome."
-By Josh Mitchell, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6637;
joshua.mitchell@dowjones.com