Time for Congress to (finally) step up for a new transportation authorization

Missing somewhere amid the recent hubbub regarding the positive steps being taken by both Congress (and the White House, for that matter) in terms of advancing legislation that would help keep the current federal authorization intact for maybe the next several years, is some good, old fashioned pessimism.

Is that a tad too harsh, maybe, but it is still justified, all the same. That goes without saying for more than a few reasons.

Among the reasons are that recent history shows, Congress struggles to get things done in an efficient and timely manner pretty much all the time and for many reasons, most of which, at the end of the day, are truly petulant.

At this point, that is really stating the obvious, but a recent report in USA Today made it crystal clear, with this headline: “The least productive Congress ever,” with this subhead: “As the list of unfinished business grows, lawmakers are on track to set a new record for futility.”

The article observes “having enacted 104 laws since early 2013, the 113th Congress is on track to break the previous low of 283, set in 2011-2012.” How is that for a mammoth lack of progress, eh?

And it cited myriad areas that are in dire need of fixing and/or attention, including: deficit reduction, housing, immigration overhaul, and others that were more germane to the supply chain and logistics worlds we live in like the plight of the United States Postal Service, climate legislation, and, of course, the highway trust fund (HTF).

As for the latter point, like most people with even a grain of common sense, the article, too, observes, “the simplest, fairest way to deal with declining gasoline tax revenue is to raise the 18.4 cent (23.4 cents for diesel), which hasn’t been hiked in 21 years. Instead, lawmakers are bound by anti-tax pledges to purity enforcement groups. And they’re balking at shifting money to highways because that would be a ‘bailout.’”

That is rich, to put it mildly, considering not all that long ago, a long and narrow path of bailouts from the United States General Trust Fund to the Highway Trust Fund, to, you know, keep it solvent and functioning, was needed.

Now, with summer basically here, the HTF is positioned for another massive shortfall and short of these politically scorned bailouts, few attractive and alternative options are kicking around at the moment. Lack of a plan or options may serve as a motto for this Congress.

So, the pending expiration of the HTF is not the only troubling sign on the horizon, the next federal transportation authorization, which is being kicked around now, is also an issue.

While it has several good ideas and concepts, the most important one¬¬–how to finance it–remains murky. That is in spite of some actual good ideas out there like simply raising the fuel tax, which is occurring on a state level in some cases, or indexing it to inflation, or increased tolling on highways, also good ideas.

We have written extensively about the fuel tax and will continue to do so in the future, but that is only part of the problem. The real problem remains the inability of Congress to gain significant traction on a new, long-term bill that is more than just talk.