The Honorable Scott Garrett
United States House of Representatives
2244 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 2055
Dear Representative Garrett,
On behalf of the 362,000 members of
the National Taxpayers Union (NTU), I write in support of your STATE (Surface
Transportation and Taxation Equity) Act. Your legislation would allow states to
opt-out of the federal surface transportation system, thereby giving them the
power to make their own infrastructure decisions, free from federal micromanagement.
The current system of gas taxes is
a bureaucratic mess that often substitutes the priorities of the federal
political establishment for the needs of our individual states. Currently, the
federal fuel tax is collected by the IRS, sent to Washington to be put into the
Highway Trust Fund, and then redistributed to each state. This nonsensical, top-down
process allows Washington to pick winners and losers among states. Under the
federal formula, areas such as the Pacific Northwest receive more money than
they pay in, while states in the Midwest and South are left shortchanged. Your
bill would solve this inefficient and inequitable approach by providing states
the option of an equal, offsetting federal fuel tax reduction for any future
state fuel tax increase.
This approach will allow state and
local planners, who better understand their areas’ transportation and
infrastructure needs, to prioritize how money will be spent. Currently, 20
percent of the Highway Trust Fund is diverted to non-highway projects (often
mass transit), thereby exacerbating the discrepancy in funding between high and
low population density states. Your bill would ensure that states can more
thoroughly protect their budgets from political pressure by special interests
to spend tax dollars on projects that make no fiscal sense.
Furthermore, the STATE Act will
limit the federal government’s ability to use the threat of withholding
transportation funds to force states to agree to costly mandates. States must
spend millions of taxpayer dollars to comply with environmental permits, agree
to certain speed limits, and conform to antiquated labor laws, all of which needlessly
drive up the cost of transportation projects. Allowing states to substitute
their own gas tax would prevent these bureaucratic abuses and afford them the
opportunity to create a more modern, efficient, and less costly transportation system
The Surface Transportation and
Taxation Equity Act is a vital tool in ensuring taxpayer money is used to
maximize the effectiveness of our transportation system rather than greasing
the wheels for Washington’s priorities. NTU urges your colleagues to
cosponsor the “STATE” Act, and any roll call votes on this legislation will be significantly
weighted in our annual Rating of Congress.
Sincerely,
Brandon Greife
Federal
Government Affairs Manager
Letter
