Sen. Harkin: Gas tax hiked ‘desperately’ needed

CEDAR RAPIDS - Sen. Tom Harkin would like to direct more money into the private sector and create jobs by raising the federal gas tax for the first time in 21 years, but he would settle for a stopgap measure to keep highway funds flowing to states.

With prospects for a long-term extension of the Highway Trust Fund - at least five years so states could plan their highway and bridge projects - looking unlikely before Congress leaves Washington for its monthlong summer recess, the Iowa Democrat seemed resigned to a short-term fix to avoid disruption. Without action, federal transportation funds will begin disappearing Aug. 1 and the trust fund could be insolvent by the end of the month.

What's really needed, Harkin said Thursday, is for Congress to increase the 18.4 cent-a-gallon federal gas tax.

'Lord knows our highways, our bridges need it,” Harkin said. 'Desperately.”

The trust fund, which provides about half of Iowa's transportation construction budget, has struggled in recent years to keep up with rising transportation construction and maintenance costs.

Harkin didn't commit to a specific hike, but one bipartisan plan in the Senate calls for a 12 cent increase over two years, indexing it to inflation.

He voted against a measure to cut the tax to 3.7 cents a gallon and give states authority over federal highways. It failed 28-69 with Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley among its supporters.

'I can't imagine why we would want to do something like that,” Harkin said. 'I believe this is a responsibility of the nation as a whole to maintain that infrastructure.”

A tax hike may not be popular, he said, but it would be good for transportation - and local economies.

'Think about it also as a way of creating jobs and pumping more money into private sector,” Harkin said. 'When we raise the gas tax, we put that money out for repair, rebuilding bridges and roads. That's work done by private contractors. These are good jobs. That money certainly gets circulated in the economy.”

The House and Senate have each passed their own versions of short-term Highway Trust Fund fixes. The House would provide funding until spring; the Senate until December. The plans tap different funding sources.