House proposes 15-cent federal gas tax hike

Brandon Turkus autoblog.com The cost of a gallon of fuel may go up if a Democratic representative from Oregon gets his way. Earl Blumenauer has reportedly proposed a bill in the House of Representatives to raise the federal gas tax 15 cents per gallon in a bid to cover a shortfall in transportation funding (we told you so?). The current federal tax is 33.4 cents per gallon on gas and 42.8 cents per gallon of diesel. "Every credible independent report indicates that we are not meeting the demands of our stressed and decaying infrastructure system – roads, bridges and transit," Blumenauer said in a press conference cited by The Washington Post. The Post reports that the federal tax hasn't been increased since 1993. "The average motorist is paying about half as much per mile as they did in 1993" "With inflation and increased fuel efficiency, especially for some types of vehicles, there is no longer a good relationship between what road users pay and how much they benefit. The average motorist is paying about half as much per mile as they did in 1993," Blumenauer said. to read more click here: autoblog.com