West Virginia’s transportation secretary says federal leaders should take a hard look at raising the gas tax.
Every time you fill up your tank, you pay an 18.4-cents-per-gallon federal tax. That rate was set during the Clinton administration.
Since then, the spending power of the tax’s revenue has eroded to inflation. That means fewer federal dollars are available from a tax intended to help build and maintain roads, bridges and transit systems.
Most states, including West Virginia, have raised their own gas taxes instead. Others have opted for tolls or public-private partnerships.
But Transportation Secretary Jimmy Wriston told state lawmakers on Monday that, in his opinion, Washington needs to act.
“The answer is simple, the political will, the political strength to increase the federal gas tax, and we as people have to support that if we want the infrastructure that we have,” he told the Joint Oversight Committee on Department of Transportation Accountability.
It would be up to Congress. If the 1993 tax had been indexed to inflation, it would be roughly 40.7 cents today.
West Virginia’s gas tax is about 36 cents a gallon.