Minnesota cuts tax hikes from transportation bill

Amanda Bayhi - May 09, 2013

U.S. Capitol building (Photo: MaryAnn Doherty / Flickr) The Senate Tax Committee voted yesterday to remove tax increases from the Minnesota’s transportation finance bill, Minnesota Public Radio reported. The committee rejected and removed two particular provisions: a 7.5 cent per gallon ...

Egg Money: Would online sales taxes save us from higher fuel taxes?

John Latta - May 08, 2013

You wanna pay this way, or you wanna pay that way? The Senate has voted in favor of the Marketplace Fairness Act, which would give each state the authority to compel online businesses to collect applicable taxes. The House has yet to ...

Waiting for DiMaggio

John Latta - Apr 03, 2013

Is the automobile over? Scary thought if fuel taxes continue to be the single biggest contributor to our transportation infrastructure funding structure. And they’re not my words; it’s a headline from Motor Trend magazine last fall. I’m resurrecting this oldie here as ...

Are We Choosing Failure Over Success?

Better Roads Staff - Apr 03, 2013

Early in my career, I worked for a special interest consumer magazine that was getting beaten badly by the competition. In a series of meetings about how to save our magazine and our jobs, we identified the reasons we were ...

Depends what you mean by “relevant” or “earmark.”

John Latta - Mar 22, 2013

When it comes to transportation infrastructure, what is "relevant" and what is an "earmark?" The debate arises courtesy of Minnesota Republican Representative and former Presidential candidate Michelle Bachmann. And while the debate comes from a meeting where she spoke, it is ...

Highway Trust Fund $365.5 billion in debt by 2036 – AED report

John Latta - Feb 22, 2013

Highway Trust Fund (HTF) shortfall will be in the coming decades. The report, conducted for the Associated Equipment Distributors (AED) by William and Mary University's Thomas Jefferson Program in Public Policy, forecasts that over the next 23 years the Highway Trust ...

Somebody blinked: States making moves for transportation infrastructure funds

John Latta - Feb 19, 2013

As the inevitability of dwindling fuel tax revenues keeps butting heads with the inevitable need for more funding for transportation infrastructure, something has to give. States are now making moves instead of just talking about them, as this New York ...

Uh oh, somebody’s out of touch on the gas tax

John Latta - Feb 14, 2013

If something is unpopular but beneficial to the American public, do you as a member of Congress (a) support it, or (b) check the polls because sometimes what's good for the country could get a person unelected. The U.S. Chamber of ...

The Roundabout Way to Safety and Saving

John Latta - Jan 22, 2013

Go around. For older drivers it seems roundabouts may be the optimal intersection design. Apparently for most age groups, surprisingly even for the impatient driver of any age. Less accidents, more traffic flow. This from a University of Maine study which also ...

Pushing the toll option

John Latta - Jan 10, 2013

The International Bridge Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) is launching what it calls an "aggressive" campaign to show us the benefits of tolling AND suggesting more of it. With highway infrastructure in such abysmal shape, tolling has to be on ...

A fuel tax chance missed?

John Latta - Dec 19, 2012

Uh oh. Perhaps it's best seen as a good news/bad news scenario. Washington State Governor Christine Gregoire has proposed a new excise tax on the wholesale cost of gasoline and diesel fuel to raise $368 million in its first two years and more ...

Whispering the T Word

John Latta - Dec 05, 2012

TAX! Nothing like shouting a three-letter word ending in X to get your attention. But no, we’re not talking income tax. The gas tax is back on a table in Washington. The 18.3 cents a gallon tax, un-indexed and unchanged in almost ...

Older Articles »