Ranking Members Larsen, Norton Statements from Hearing on the Highway Trust Fund

Press Release

"I would like to thank Subcommittee Chair Rick Crawford for holding this hearing on the status of the Highway Trust Fund.

For decades, the Highway Trust Fund has provided a predictable and stable funding source for the construction and maintenance of roads, bridges, transit and bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure.

Transportation projects take time to plan and build. Having a dedicated revenue stream--largely supported by the tax on gasoline and diesel--has allowed Congress to provide states, cities and transit agencies with the certainty they need to plan and deliver transportation projects.

However, because the gas and diesel taxes are flat taxes that have not been adjusted in three decades, the purchasing power of that revenue stream has eroded. Improved vehicle fuel economy and the increased adoption of zero-emission vehicles also represent an emerging challenge Congress will need to address.

Congress needs to find a solution for the long-term solvency of the Highway Trust Fund. That could mean increasing user fees or indexing them to inflation. It also might mean transitioning to a new system based on vehicle miles traveled, which several of our witnesses are piloting at the state level.

Whatever Congress decides, we need to ensure that our solution meets several criteria. First, we need to provide a sustainable revenue source for the Highway Trust Fund that allows this Committee to continue to enact multi-year surface transportation bills.

States, cities and transit agencies cannot build cohesive and functional transportation systems if they do not know how much funding they will receive year to year. Congress must continue to provide that certainty.

Second, we need to continue investing in public transportation. Cutting federal support for transit would be catastrophic not just for transit riders, but for drivers as well.

Last Wednesday, here in the national capital region, Metro carried 440,000 riders on its rail system alone. They have been carrying nearly 400,000 riders each weekday on their bus network.

Imagine if even a fraction of those 800,000 transit riders had been forced to drive instead. Everyone would lose out from more gridlock, more air pollution and more time wasted in traffic. We must continue to guarantee strong federal transit funding.

Third, we need to continue building for the future. With the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, Congress took steps to address challenges that have been an afterthought for far too long.

We created the first-ever highway formula program to reduce carbon pollution.

We established two new programs to redress the harms caused to neighborhoods that were divided by highways and bear a heavy burden from pollution.

We created the Safe Streets and Roads for All grant program to provide safe and reliable transportation choices for more people.

Those are not luxuries. Those are essential to building modern-day transportation systems that work for all people and road users and address the challenges of the 21st century.

Addressing the solvency of the Highway Trust Fund is not an easy task, but it is an essential one. I look forward to hearing the recommendations and insight from our witnesses today."

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