U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., currently running for the U.S. Senate seat held by U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., unveiled a proposal to reduce the federal gas tax on Wednesday.
DeSantis teamed up with U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, a frequent legislative partner of Rubio’s, to unveil the Transportation Empowerment Act on Wednesday. The proposal would cut the federal gas tax by 14.6cents over a gallon over a five-year period to 3.7 cents and give the states more power on how to spend federal monies for transportation and infrastructure projects.
“For far too long, Washington has tried to patch the holes in the Highway Trust Fund without offering constructive solutions to the underlying problems,” DeSantis said on Wednesday. “We need to modernize the way we handle transportation projects, not just rely on short-term fixes or a one-size-fits-all approach to the nation’s infrastructure needs.
“The Transportation Empowerment Act will give states the power to determine their own road map for transportation policy while largely eliminating Washington’s role as a bureaucratic middleman,” DeSantis added. “Florida knows best which bridges are lacking repair or where road construction is most needed, not out-of-state members of Congress or federal bureaucrats.”
“The federal government’s Highway Trust Fund is broke and another year of Band-Aid funding is not going to fix it,” Lee said. “The Interstate Highway System was completed decades ago, drivers are buying less fuel, and the federal government has wasted far too much money on nonhighway projects. It is just an outdated system that is long overdue for reform.”
“Our bill would update today’s broken infrastructure funding system by slowly cutting the federal gas tax, thus giving states the opportunity to better identify which projects need funding and how to fund them,” Lee continued. “By cutting out the bureaucratic middleman in Washington, states will be able to keep more of their infrastructure dollars at home where they belong and they will be able to avoid the costly and often duplicative federal regulations that can bring any infrastructure project to a screeching halt.”
DeSantis and Lee offered a piece at the Daily Signal on Wednesday explaining why their bill was needed.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
