A pair of U.S. senators have have proposed increasing the gas tax for the first time since 1993.
Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee and Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut have called for raising the tax six cents a year for two years, while linking future fuel tax increases to inflation. An increase of the federal gasoline and diesel tax by a total of 12 cents a gallon could help prevent the Highway Trust Fund from drying up. Currently, the gasoline tax is 18.4 cents a gallon and the diesel tax is 24.4 cents a gallon.
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That tax has not changed since 1993. Despite that, the number of cars on the road is increasing while the volume of gasoline each of those cars consumes is decreasing. Lawmakers worry that the Trust Fund could run out as soon as August, which is spurring the discussion about hiking taxes. Both Murphy and Corker proposed other tax cuts to offset the fuel tax hike, but no specific recommendations were made.
[Source: Automotive News]
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