Editorial boards call for quick Trust Fund solution

   The call throughout the country for Congress to fix the Highway Trust Fund before it runs out of money in September and domestic construction grinds to a halt has reached a fever pitch.
   The Washington Post editorial board wrote last week that a long-term fix to the issue is unlikely before the November elections; a band-aid solution “would be better than doing nothing,” they wrote, but a sustainable fix needs to occur at some point.
   The board endorsed the 12-cent gas tax increase that had been presented by Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn. and Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn.
   “There’s no reason for lawmakers to put the country through this uncertainty. It’s clear the money is needed. It’s clear that funding should be long-term and raised from a sustainable source of revenue, allowing for ample planning and enabling big transportation projects,” they wrote. “And it’s clear that those who use the roads should pay for them, a policy that’s fair and efficient. All Congress needs to do is accept the obvious and approve one of the many plans that fit these criteria.”
   In Spokane, Wash., the editorial board of the Spokesman Review pointed out that the Washington Department of Transportation has predicted that federal dollars sent to the state for construction projects will fall by 25 percent in 2015 if more money isn’t pumped into the Trust Fund. A gas tax, they said, is the solution.
   “Nobody likes to pay more at the pump,” the board wrote. “But when truckers start lobbying for tax increases, it’s a clear sign the need is critical. The American Trucking Associations has joined the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups to push for a tax increase, because it’s getting more difficult to get goods to markets.”