Wherever the money comes from, you pay anyway

The money to pay workers involved in building highways has to come from somewhere.

The federal government's contribution - currently about 50 percent - comes from a dedicated fund called the Highway Trust Fund. But it could come from any source of federal money, whether another dedicated fund or the General Fund.

In turn, any of those funds must get their money from taxpayers. Most of the money for the Highway Trust Fund currently comes from the fuel tax we discussed. But it could come from other sources, such as from income taxes or a tax that drivers pay for each mile they drive.

At this time, Lobby99 will not debate the relative merits of each of those options. The key point is that they all receive their money directly from taxpayers, and we could support any of them.

Pension Smoothing - which has helped replenish the Highway Trust Fund since 2012 - is not a direct funding method. It merely is a way for a current Congress to provide services, while passing the necessary tax increase to future Congresses. There will be no way to pay for transportation projects without these eventual increases.

We feel that some form of direct revenue - such as an increased fuel tax - to pay for needed transportation projects might be unpleasant for people, but over the next 20 years it actually will save taxpayers money and save taxpayers from needing to bail out underfunded pensions.

How far into the future should we plan?

The August, 2014 extension of the Highway Trust Fund was a very temporary measure - lasting for less than a year. This allowed elected representatives to avoid having to discuss the prospect of an increased fuel tax until after the 2014 elections.

The fund will run out of money in May, 2015. This is near the start of construction season - meaning that the new Congress starting in January will have 6 months to agree to a way to fund the Highway Trust Fund. If they do not, many projects will stop and many jobs will be lost.

Because a tax increase - such as a 10-cent per gallon fuel tax increase - is the only sustainable way to provide the fun with enough money to pay for needed projects and work will be required many years into the future, we believe the bill providing this funding should have a duration of several years.