Infrastructure

A higher federal gasoline tax offset by an income tax rebate could unsnarl the revenue gridlock in Congress blocking a multiyear highway bill, ARTBA says.

Given the magnitude and condition of U.S. infrastructure and the Federal push to "level the playing field" by expanding the availability of tax-exempt finance for public-private partnership procurements, the U.S. is poised to become a very active and substantial P3 market.

Road builders association says it has a plan to untangle the congressional gridlock on federal transportation funding.

Increasing the federal gasoline tax by 10 cents per gallon to generate enough revenue to fully fund a multiyear federal transportation bill could, in turn, be offset by a 2% drop in the top margin income tax rate, the nonpartisan Tax Foundation said in a recent report.

The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District would like to ask voters next year to support $919 million in new borrowing for wastewater projects and to revamp its stormwater fee structure.

Pressure from constituents may be best hope for quick congressional approval of a long-term federal transportation bill, industry advocates say.

States seeking to boost their transportation funding are finding gasoline tax increases as the most effective path to progress.

An airline group asks Congress to oppose a proposal by airports for a 90% boost in a federal passenger fee that funds capital projects.

The House passes a four-year Amtrak funding bill that requires a study of high-speed passenger rail from Washington, D.C., to Boston.

Congress is not likely to pass a long-term transportation funding bill or tax reform legislation of any kind until 2017, after the presidential election, lobbyists said at the National Municipal Bond Summit earlier this week.

Panelists at an American Enterprise Institute event expressed concerns with proposals from Rep. John Delaney, D-Md., to create a national infrastructure bank and fund infrastructure through repatriation of foreign earnings.

Funding boost in Obama's $478 billion transportation proposal needed so state agencies can build significant projects, Foxx says.

Political controversies in Washington, D.C. are clouding the future of infrastructure funding in the United States, experts said at the National Municipal Bond Summit.

The Obama administration has no Plan B for the revenue that would be needed to support its proposed $478 billion, six-year transportation measure if Congress fails to pass its corporate tax reform proposals, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said Thursday.

Congress should pass a short-term transportation bill by mid-March so that the construction season can be as robust as possible, the top Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee said Thursday.

An increase in the federal gasoline tax is seen as the most viable option for long-term transportation funding at Senate hearing.

Almost 300 House Democrats and Republicans joined in a letter pushing for passage of a long-term highway bill by May 31.

Maryland pushes back bids on its $2.5 billion Purple Line P3 rail project so partners can study how to build it cheaper.

Sponsors of a privately funded $10 billion high-speed rail project between Houston and Dallas opt for route with fewest landowner issues.

State lawmakers in Arkansas and Washington state give initial approval to measures that would increase local transportation funding.