Letter
Urging Cosponsorship of the MEGA Trust Act
Dear Colleague:
Next year, the Congress
must reauthorize highway and transit programs and the system of
Federal financing for them. This is a very important issue for the
nation. Transportation is the lifeblood of the economy. Highway and
transit programs are crucial in every state for moving goods and
people. Highways and transit are key to our growth and our ability
to connect to one another. This country needs good, safe highways in
order to cross great distances and highway and transit construction
and maintenance is an important part of every state's economy.
In order to facilitate
our work in reauthorizing these programs, we are introducing a
proposal concerning revenues for the Highway Trust Fund. Ensuring
adequate resources in the Trust Fund will be a major challenge in
the coming years. This bill addresses how this country will help pay
for our highway and transit needs over the next several years.
Given the importance of
transportation to our nation's economic growth, this bill will be
known as the Maximum Economic Growth for America through The Highway
Trust Fund Act or The MEGA TRUST Act.
The MEGA TRUST Act
represents an important step in the effort to strengthen our
Nation's economy, and improve its quality of life, by investing in
transportation and ensuring the solvency of the Trust Fund. It would
increase revenues into the Highway Trust Fund by several billion
dollars annually by making some needed corrections in the way
Federal revenues are credited to the Highway Trust Fund. Nothing in
the bill increases any tax.
Federal dollars to help
states and localities improve their highways and transit systems are
derived largely from the Federal Highway Trust Fund. This Trust Fund
mechanism has been widely regarded as successful. But, as always, we
must make adjustments to meet new challenges.
This bill would improve
and extend this important financing mechanism, principally by making
sure that certain revenues not currently credited to the Highway
Trust Fund are placed in the Fund.
The MEGA TRUST Act
would:
1. ensure that taxes
paid on gasohol are fully credited to the Highway Account of the
Highway Trust Fund, by crediting the Highway Account with the 2.5
cents currently going to the General Fund.
2. ensure that the
General Fund of the Treasury, not the Highway Account of the Highway
Trust Fund, would shoulder the cost of the gasohol tax preference.
Accordingly, this section of the bill would leave the gasohol tax
rate preference in place but credit the Highway Account of the
Highway Trust Fund with the 5.3 cents in revenue equal to that
forgone to the Treasury by the gasohol tax preference.
3. credit the Highway
Account of the Highway Trust Fund with interest on its balance,
which it currently does not receive.
4. credit the Mass
Transit Account of the Highway Trust Fund with interest on its
balance, which it currently does not receive.
5. extend the basic
highway user taxes and the Highway Trust Fund, so that they do not
expire.
6. require an important
study concerning the future financing of our Federal highway and
transit programs.
In sum, through this
MEGA TRUST Act we pursue ways to increase revenue into the Highway
Trust Fund without raising taxes. We will need increased Highway
Trust Fund resources to help us all structure a successful
reauthorization bill. This bill responds to that need. We hope we
can count on your sponsorship.
Sincerely,
Max Baucus
(R-MT) Senate Finance Committee Chairman
Jean Carnahan
(D-MO)
Mike Crapo
(R-ID)
Tom Daschle
(D-SD)
Tom Harkin
(D-IA)
Harry Reid
(D-NV)
John Warner
(R-VA)
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