WASHINGTON ? President Barack Obama pushed the importance of funding transportation repairs in the days before last night?s jobs speech in front of Congress, Stateline.org reports.
Obama has continually asked Congress to reauthorize a highway bill set to lapse at the month?s end that would keep federal funds heading to states. ?Allowing this bill to expire would be a disaster for our infrastructure and our economy,? said the president during a recent weekly radio talk. ?Right away, over 4,000 workers would be furloughed without pay. If it?s delayed for just 10 days, we will lose nearly $1 billion in highway funding that we can never get back.?
Mayors, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and labor unions are all clamoring for renewing the bill. The Obama administration revealed figures that showed job losses by state if the transportation bill ? along with the federal gasoline tax ? is not restored.
Rep. John Mica (R-FL), chairman of the House Transportation Committee, said a shutdown is not likely because he would support another short-term extension ? the eighth since the original bill first lapsed in 2009.
States are watching Congress to see if a bipartisan agreement on federal road funding can be reached. One House plan would spend only the money generated by the federal gas tax, while a Senate plan would keep current spending levels that would require funds from Congress in addition to the federal gas tax revenue.
NACS has historically opposed temporary suspension of the gasoline and diesel fuel excise taxes.�Previous proposals to suspend the tax were aimed at easing the economic pressure on consumers when legislators considered prices were too high. However, the artificial lowering of fuel prices during times when supply and demand conditions are forcing the market higher would only encourage additional consumption and exacerbate the market imbalance leading to higher prices.�NACS likewise opposes allowing authorization for the excise taxes to expire for similar reasons�? and does not expect an expiration of the tax would be permanent.�
�In addition, NACS is adamantly opposed to any retroactive tax liability that may be imposed subsequent to a period of suspension of the excise taxes.�If the tax is allowed to expire it is possible that Congress, upon renewing the tax, will seek to collect retroactively taxes that should have been paid while the tax was in suspension. If public pressure forces retailers to sell tax-free fuel during the suspension, retailers will not have the funds required to pay retroactive excise taxes if demanded by the federal government.
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