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GENERAL SESSION 4
Transportation Finance in the
Context of Reauthorization and Beyond
Congressional Viewpoint
Mortimer Downey, PBConsult, Inc.
Jonathan Upchurch, U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure
Joyce Rose, U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
Megan Stanley, U.S. Senate, Environment and Public Works Committee
Jeff Squires, U.S. Senate, Environment and Public Works Committee
PANEL OF CONGRESSIONAL STAFFERS sion, the donordonee situation, and Amtrak's financial
condition.
Mortimer Downey
Mortimer Downey moderated the first of two final panels, REAUTHORIZATION AND FINANCING
a panel of congressional staff that included
Joyce Rose
· Jonathan Upchurch, U.S. House of Representatives,
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure; Rose offered her perspective on transit and reauthoriza-
· Joyce Rose, U.S. House of Representatives, Com- tion. She related the achievements of TEA-21: in particu-
mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure; lar, securing guaranteed funding through budgetary and
· Megan Stanley, U.S. Senate, Environment and Public financial firewalls, had never been done before and should
Works Committee; and be maintained as part of reauthorization. Despite the
· Jeff Squires, U.S. Senate, Environment and Public advances of TEA-21, Rose pointed out that the growth in
Works Committee. revenues was still far less than in identified needs.
Rose discussed the potential of indexing the gas tax
at the national level and noted that 11 states index their
THE CAPITOL HILL ENVIRONMENT state gas taxes. She offered alternatives to raise revenue:
Jonathan Upchurch · Spending down cash balances in the Highway Trust
Fund,
Initiating the panel presentation, Upchurch described · Indexing the gas tax to inflation,
the environment on Capitol Hill: the 108th Congress · Crediting the Highway Account of the Trust Fund
with a full plate with homeland security challenges, war with ethanol tax revenues currently going to the
with Iraq, and potential changes in political control. He General Fund and, eliminating the tax subsidy,
reported the strains of the federal fiscal situation, the · Crediting the Trust Fund with interest earnings,
number of new players since TEA-21, and the changes · Addressing fuel tax evasion, and
in leadership on the relevant committees. · Expanding innovative financing--though differ-
Upchurch highlighted several areas of focus: smooth- ent from the other revenue-producing options, this step
ing out the Revenue Aligned Budget Authority provi- could help stretch available resources.
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