Vermont Transportation Secretary Brian Searles said the trust fund is the major source of money for the state’s projects and programs. That resistance is creating headaches for states trying to plan their own transportation budgets. “I think it’s more politics than it is policy.” There’s real resistance to the gas tax,” Welch said Thursday. “The funding is a tougher issue because the funding is scheduled to be exhausted in (2014). A proposal to raise the federal gas tax, which hasn’t been raised since President Bill Clinton’s first term, has gained little traction. The Federal Highway Trust Fund, supported by a tax of 18.4 cents per gallon on gasoline and 24.4 cents per gallon on diesel, is projected to be insolvent by the fall as demand grows and project costs soar. The third-term Democrat said a multiyear bill setting federal transportation priorities appears likely but a parallel plan to replenish the trust fund and cover costs remains questionable. Peter Welch was at the State House last week to meet with the Senate Transportation Committee and discuss the concern shared by lawmakers and Shumlin administration officials over uncertain federal funding. State transportation officials say they may have to cut back on projects unless Congress acts soon to replenish the federal fund that provides the lion’s share of money for state work.
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