Sen. Hutchison offers bill to prohibit tolling on existing federal highways

The bill (S.1115) by U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (above) would prohibit states, private entities and private-public partnerships from adding tolls on existing federal highways, bridges or tunnels built with federal funding.

The Trucker Staff

5/26/2009

WASHINGTON, D.C — In response to renewed calls for tolling on Texas roads, U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, ranking Republican on the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, has introduced a bill that would prohibit adding tolls to existing federal highways.

Hutchison has opposed efforts to impose tolls on existing federally funded roads, which she said motorists have already paid for through taxes, according to a news release from the senator’s office.

The bill (S.1115) would prohibit states, private entities and private-public partnerships from adding tolls on existing federal highways, bridges or tunnels built with federal funding.

The American Trucking Associations weighed in supporting the bill.

“Highway users have paid for these highways through fuel taxes,” said ATA President and CEO Bill Graves. “Additional tolling on our National Highway System is nothing more than an ill-conceived quick fix for transportation funding shortfalls.”

Referred to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, the legislation does not prohibit tolls on new construction, and also exempts the conversion of HOV lanes to toll lanes from the prohibition.

“ATA supports the continued reliance on fuel taxes as the primary means of funding much needed strategic investments in highway freight transportation,” said Graves. “The trucking industry has long opposed additional tolling on any existing highways or roads because collecting fuel taxes costs far less than any other proposed alternatives, making it the most efficient way to fund highway projects.”

“I believe taxing Americans twice for the same asset is fundamentally unfair, and I oppose any effort to place tolls on existing interstate highways,” said Hutchison in introducing the bill late last week. “As we work to meet our transportation needs, we must think broadly and avoid band-aid solutions, like tolling, that will ultimately exacerbate congestion and divert traffic into residential neighborhoods and onto smaller, less safe roads.”

In addition to prohibiting tolling on federal highways, the bill also would keep states from attempting to purchase highways from the federal government and place them under state ownership or lease them to foreign investors for the purpose of tolling them.

Hutchison said, “If the state or community wants to expand their highways and toll for building new lanes, they can choose that alternative. In these situations, the taxpayers know exactly what they are getting. Many times a vote is required to approve these projects, but in any case, the taxpayers can hold the relevant officials accountable.”

In January, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, when pressed by Hutchison, testified at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing that he did not think tolling was a “good idea” or the right solution for American transportation challenges, according to the Hutchison news release.

“The debate on tolling illuminates the broader need to reform the federal highway program. Its antiquated funding formula, which has made Texas a donor state, is no longer serving the best interests of each state and its motorists. Our national transportation mission should evolve to maintaining and improving infrastructure,” she said.

Last month Hutchison introduced the Highway Fairness and Reform Act of 2009, S. 903, which would give states the option to opt out of federal highway program, which doles out funding on a revenue-sharing basis. Instead, opt-out states would receive a rebate on federal fuel taxes collected in their states. The bill is designed to ensure a dollar for dollar return on gas tax revenue generated by a state.

Follow The Trucker on Twitter at www.twitter.com/truckertalk.

The Trucker staff may be reached to comment at editor@thetrucker.com.