Election Day served as a warning to Congress and our federal government: Kicking the can down the road accomplishes nothing other than to fuel frustration.
Americans — and Georgians in particular — are eager for Congress to address looming challenges that have largely been cast aside by a Democrat-controlled Senate in recent years..
With a new Senate majority and the resounding message sent by voters, Congress must begin working to solve some of our greatest long-term problems in a realistic, forward-thinking way.
One problem we face will be funding the federal Highway Trust Fund, set to expire May 31. It’s running out of money.
The Highway Trust Fund was created to ensure a dependable source of financing for the interstate highway system and funding for many other state and local transportation programs.
During the last three years, Congress has addressed the pending shortfall of the fund by borrowing and increasing the national debt rather than addressing the larger issue of finding adequate, long-term funding. As a result, our nation is paying a punitive price because of the underlying problem: The federal gas tax that primarily funds this critical trust fund is obsolete.
Factors such as higher fuel economy standards, the encouraging rise of electric and hybrid vehicles, greater population density and more compact cars have driven gasoline consumption down. With drivers buying less gasoline, the revenue coming into the Highway Trust Fund has dropped. Given these factors and recent trends, it is likely our gas consumption will continue to decline. Simply raising the tax rate on a declining revenue source isn’t the solution for our long-term infrastructure needs.
In 2015, we have a real opportunity to repair this broken trust fund and find a new formula that fits the needs of 21st century America. It is time we change the trust fund model to a “user-pays” system. Everyone who uses the roads and other modes of transportation financed through the trust fund should pay into the system.
I also support letting states set their own infrastructure funding priorities. While the federal government should prioritize projects important to the nation as a whole, states have a much better sense of their day-to-day infrastructure needs, and they should be given the flexibility to direct the use of gas tax revenues collected within their borders.
In October, the final hurdle was cleared to allow construction to begin on the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project. It is estimated the harbor deepening project will bring $174 million in annual net benefits to the U.S. For larger Post-Panamax II vessels, the extra five feet of depth in Savannah Harbor will allow for an additional 3,600 cargo containers in each transit, an increase of 78 percent.
This is excellent news for Georgia and our nation. However, for Georgia’s ports in Savannah and Brunswick and our economy to respond at maximum capacity, our infrastructure — the highways and bridges that will support this additional traffic — must be sufficient and safe.
U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., is a member of the Senate Finance Committee.
