On Wednesday, President Biden called on Congress to suspend both the federal gasoline and diesel taxes for three months.
While the White House argues that this will help provide relief from rising gas prices throughout the summer travel season, NPCA is opposing this proposal because unintended consequences affecting funding for the 2021 bipartisan Infrastructure and Jobs Act outweigh any resulting minor temporary relief at the pump.
The infrastructure law, which is scheduled to deliver more than $1.2 trillion in projects throughout the United States over the next 10 years, receives the bulk of its revenue from gasoline and diesel taxes. Suspending this funding would slow expected projects designed to fix America’s roads, bridges, water systems and more.
President Biden also has urged states to suspend their gas taxes. Florida, Maryland, Georgia, New York and Connecticut already have done so while other states are considering following suit.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, a halt to federal and state fuel taxes would save about 18 cents per gallon on gasoline and 24 cents per gallon on diesel, though there is no guarantee the savings would be passed on to consumers.
NPCA urges its members to contact President Biden, their U.S. Senators and their U.S. Representative about opposition to suspending the gas tax. We cannot lose the momentum from the infrastructure projects that already are under way and rebuilding this country’s infrastructure grid.
Find your U.S. representative.
NPCA is a member of the North American Concrete Alliance, which consists of 12 concrete- and cement-related associations. NACA offers a letter-writing campaign on this subject through the link below.
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