Secretary LaHood Considers Taxing Miles Driven U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood says he plans to consider taxing motorists based on annual mileage driven rather than the amount of gasoline they utilize. For nearly 50 years, gasoline taxes have paid for the federal share of highway and bridge construction and maintenance – a system, LaHood argues, that is no longer capable of raising sufficient revenue to maintain and expand the nation’s infrastructure. “We should look at the vehicular miles program where people are actually clocked on the number of miles that they traveled,” Secretary LaHood suggested. The federal gasoline tax is 18.4 cents per gallon; 24.4 cents per gallon for diesel. The program that funds the federal share of highway projects is part of a surface transportation law set to expire September 30, 2009. Last fall, Congress made an emergency infusion of $8 billion to make up for the shortfall between gas tax revenues and the amount of money promised to states for their projects. Among the reasons for the gap is a switch to more fuel-efficient cars and a decrease in driving widely attributed to the economic downturn. “One of the things I think everyone agrees with around reauthorization of the highway bill is that the highway trust fund is an antiquated system for funding our highways,” LaHood said. “It did work to build the interstate system and it was very effective…But the big question now is, We’re into the 21st century and how are we going to take care of our infrastructure needs…with a highway trust fund that had to be plused up by $8 billion by Congress last year?” Source: msnbc
	The Soy Transportation Coalition is comprised of seven state soybean boards, the American Soybean Association, and the United Soybean Board. The National Grain and Feed Association and the National Oilseed Processors Association serve as ex-officio members of the organization.