Hey Feds: Hit the Road

By Dave Buhlman

There is a better way to fund the much needed bridge and roadway repairs in our state.

The federal government now taxes gas and diesel fuels at about eighteen cents per gallon. The State of New Hampshire, and the other forty-nine states, collects this tax money and sends it to the federal government. The federal government then sends some of this money back to the states to support transportation improvements, with congressmen and senators from the various states fighting over this revenue pie. Sometimes a state gets more than it put in, sometimes less, depending in part on the influence of a state's delegation. This is an inefficient system that can be greatly improved.

It would be sensible, and increase the number of vital transportation improvements, if the federal government greatly reduced its tax on gas and diesel. After all, the interstate highway system is complete, so the reduced federal government role in transportation ought to mirror this fact. The state Department of Transportation can design all improvements without any guidance from federal agencies. With many years of experience, they well know how to design and build roadways and bridges.

There was a discussion in Washington, DC a few years ago about reducing the federal tax to four cents per gallon. Of course, given Washington's penchant for hanging onto power, this plan did not go far. But if the federal government did undertake this reduction, this would provide the room for the states to raise their fuel taxes without increases to consumers at the pump. With the millions in additional dollars New Hampshire would realize, dollars that would stay in this state, we could undertake roadway and bridge improvements without having to beg the federal government for the funds. Then there is the great bonus of eliminating the intrusions from the federal Environmental Protection Agency and US Army Corps of Engineers, two of the cumbersome strings attached to federal transportation money. The state's Department of Environmental Services is perfectly capable of monitoring environmental impacts of projects without any guidance from federal bureaucracies.

New Hampshire's tax on gas and diesel is also eighteen cents per gallon. With a reduction in the federal tax from eighteen to four cents, New Hampshire could increase its tax by the difference of fourteen cents per gallon without causing any increase at the pump. We could also roll back the recent increases in tolls, and perhaps, even reduce the tolls. Taxpayers need a break, especially these days.

State departments of transportation can coordinate the designs at the state borders, as is done anyway, and, for the few larger projects of importance to several states, cooperation between the states can be worked out.

It's time to get the federal government out of the transportation business in New Hampshire so we can undertake our roadway and bridge improvements faster and less expensively to the great benefit of our state.

Dave Buhlman is a former New Hampshire State Representative, published author, and supporter of our return to the Constitutional Republic.