Two senators issue bipartisan call for gas tax hike

U.S. Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) announced their bipartisan proposal to raise the federal gasoline and diesel fuel taxes by 6 cents in each of the next two years to shore up the Highway Trust Fund.

The proposal also would index the taxes to inflation, using the consumer price index. Now set at 18.4 cents per gallon for gas and 24.4 cents per gallon for diesel, the taxes have not been raised since 1993.

"For too long, Congress has shied away from taking serious action to update our country's aging infrastructure," said Murphy in a press release. "We're currently facing a transportation crisis that will only get worse if we don’t take bold action to fund the Highway Trust Fund. By modestly raising the federal gas tax, we can address a crippling economic liability for this country — the inability to finance long-term improvements to our crumbling national infrastructure."

Added Corker: "In Washington, far too often, we huff and puff about paying for proposals that are unpopular, yet throw future generations under the bus when public pressure mounts on popular proposals that have broad support. Congress should be embarrassed that it has played chicken with the Highway Trust Fund and allowed it to become one of the largest budgeting failures in the federal government."

Raising the gas tax to boost the trust fund and infrastructure investment has had various support outside of Congress. Organizations representing labor, transportation and business have called for increasing the tax to support infrastructure investment.