Governor calls for fuel tax phase-out, creates funding commission
Last week, Governor Wolf announced he wants to phase out the Commonwealth’s liquid fuel taxes, and he created the Transportation Revenue Options Commission to explore alternatives to that revenue source.
APC’s Bob Latham was named to the commission, along with other stakeholders, including several others from the construction industry.
The governor noted what we have noted in this space many times – that a national energy policy that encourages reducing fuel consumption and carbon emissions, coupled with automakers determined to move the market toward cleaner energy, are making the consumption taxes increasingly less reliable as a funding source for transportation infrastructure.
The coronavirus pandemic has also had a stifling effect on transportation revenue, affecting public transportation, the Turnpike, and other transportation modes as well as highway builders. It appears that the negative impact of the pandemic will be with us for some time.
The governor’s new commission will meet next week and is tasked with submitting funding options by Aug. 1. It will be chaired by PennDOT Secretary Yasmin Gramian. In addition to industry representatives, members will include economic, and community stakeholders from both the public and private sectors, including majority and minority leaders from the House and Senate Transportation and Appropriations committees.
The commission appears to have some similarities to the Transportation Funding Advisory Commission, which helped bring us Act 89 of 2013. For more details about the commission, including a listing of members, click here.
