Fix the highways

Nation's Business, Nov, 1997

By overwhelming margins, respondents to a Nation's Business poll said that federal fuel-tax receipts should be spent to build and repair highways and bridges, not to reduce the federal budget deficit.

In the Where I Stand poll in the September issue, five of every six respondents said the favored spending the $24 billion surplus in the federal highway trust fund on roadways.

The surplus in the highway trust fund, like the current surplus in the Social Security trust fund, is used to help balance the overall federal budget and to mask the true size of the deficit.

In the poll, most readers also expressed opposition to the law that allowed some federal fuel-tax receipts to go directly to budget balancing rather than to the highway trust fund. The 1993 provision that earmarked 4.3 cents per gallon for general revenues was repeated in the balanced-budget accord this past summer, and the 4.3 cents now goes to the highway trust fund.

Fifty-five percent of the respondents said they would not favor a highway fuel tax even if the additional revenues were spent on highway projects.

Most respondents also said that state and local officials should have more flexibility in deciding how to spend federal transportation funds, and most reported that the condition of major highways and bridges in their region was fair at best.

Here are the complete results:

Questions And Answers

What is the general condition of major highways and bridges in your region?

Excellent or good 18% Fair 53 Marginal or poor 29

Should the federal highway program be streamlines to give state and local officials more flexibility in spending U.S. transportation funds?

Yes 86% No 16%

Do you favor the law that designates some federal fuel-tax receipts to help balance the federal budget?

Yes 19% No 81

Would you favor higher motor-vehicle fuel taxes if the additional money were dedicated to highway project?

Yes 45% No 55