Last week President Obama proposed a $10 dollar per barrel oil tax phased in over five years to pay for a variety of transportation initiatives. Those include new rail corridors and highway projects. Soy Transportation Coalition Executive Director Mike Steenhoek says it’s a plan Congress should at least consider.
He says it’s important Congress approve some mechanism to fund transportation needs, instead of allowing costs to escalate by getting caught up in politics.
Steenhoek says his group prefers raising the fuel tax to pay for infrastructure needs but without any other plan, they would support the President’s proposal.
The President says his proposed oil tax would raise the monies necessary to provide for long term solvency of the Highway Trust Fund which is used to pay for infrastructure projects.
