Sen. Carper introduces bill to increase federal gas tax

U.S. Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) yesterday introduced a bill that would raise the nation's gas and diesel taxes, as well as extend and expand earned income and child tax credits.

Dubbed the TRAFFIC Relief Act, the bill would increase gas and diesel taxes by 4 cents a year for four years, and subsequently index them to inflation.

The federal gas and diesel tax is the primary source of revenue for the Highway Trust Fund, which pays for road, highway and transit infrastructure. But the tax has not been raised since 1993, which has resulted in revenue shortfalls for transportation infrastructure projects since 2008, Carper said in a press release.

"Rather than lurching from crisis to crisis, increasing [the] country's debt, and borrowing more money from foreign governments to pay for our transportation system, I say it’s time to do what’s right," said Carper. "At a time when gas prices are some of the lowest we’ve seen in recent memory, we should be willing to make the hard choice to raise the federal gas tax."

To help offset the impact that a gas tax increase would have on working families, Carper said the legislation also calls for making both the earned income (EITC) and child (CTC) tax credits permanent, as well as expanding the EITC for childless workers, index the CTC to inflation.

Last week, the Senate passed and President Obama signed the House's $8 billion, three-month extension of the surface transportation funding legislation, which was set to expire July 31.

Carper lamented the fact that, over the past seven years, Congress has passed 13 short-term funding measures instead of a long-term bill to pay for surface transportation infrastructure. Congress' lack of action on long-term funding for transportation has cost the country jobs, lost productivity and overall economic growth, Carper said.