OPINION:
While Congress examines the prospects for budget reconciliation, one fact is undeniable: the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act expires Sept. 30, 2026. With that money running out in less than 18 months, how will the critical work to maintain the nation’s surface transportation network continue?
Later this year, Congress will be called to draft a new highway bill. If successful, it will keep interstate commerce running smoothly, while keeping some 350,000 men and women gainfully employed in the roadbuilding industry.
Before Congress now is H.R. 1, the “Big, Beautiful Bill,” addressing various tax and revenue opportunities on the heels of President Donald Trump’s successful campaign to codify and extend major tax wins the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act achieved in his first term. As such, it lays the groundwork for the next highway reauthorization.
During the current process, the House successfully included in H.R. 1 new user fees that are paramount to that future highway bill fees that directly support the Highway Trust Fund (HTF). Now, we’re asking the Senate to follow suit and do what is right for federal infrastructure investment.
New user fees are critical to highway infrastructure
The HTF is 70 years old and stands as the lone financier of all major surface transportation work in the United States. Put simply, the HTF facilitates the construction and maintenance of America’s roads, bridges, and transit systems.
Historically funded through federal gasoline and diesel taxes currently 18.4 cents per gallon and 24.4 cents per gallon, respectively the HTF has faced increasing financial shortfalls for decades. The HTF funding mechanism isn’t keeping up with reality.
You see it every day on our nation’s roads: new drivetrains, more efficient vehicles, plug-ins, hybrids. These modern marvels consume less gas, or none at all. Yet they use the same roads and bridges that conventional vehicles pay to use every day via the fuel tax.
One thing is abundantly clear: HTF revenues that seemed sufficient via fuel tax receipts 30 or 40 years ago pale in contrast to today’s need. Yet as traffic increases and gets heavier thanks to electric vehicle (EV) batteries the growing need for roadway maintenance and expansion projects comes into sharp focus.
The reality of the HTF is that its revenue sources, the gas and diesel fuel taxes, have not changed since 1993 when a dozen eggs cost less than a buck and the average American home sold for less than $150,000. A trip to the supermarket or a tour of local real estate reveals those days are long gone. Still, the HTF remains stuck in the past.
Compounding the problem, modern vehicles are significantly more fuel-efficient. While this is a positive development for the environment and consumers, it has devastating effects on the HTF.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the HTF has required regular infusions from the general fund to remain solvent more than $140 billion since 2008. At current highway authorization outlays, and absent any user-fee corrections, the HTF faces a deficit greater than $200 billion over the next decade.
A key fact here is that EVs are much heavier than standard drivetrains. Take the nation’s most popular vehicle for the past four decades: Ford’s F-150. The electric drivetrain carries an 1,800-pound battery, making it 35% heavier than its gas-powered twin. This extra weight is an unsustainable strain on our roads and bridges. Yet the driver of that electric F-150 pays $0 into the HTF to maintain the roads and bridges it traverses.
EV and hybrid markets continue to gain a foothold among consumers. Bloomberg and the International Energy Agency suggest that EVs could make up a quarter of new vehicle sales in the next 10 years. This portends the ongoing decline of gasoline revenues and further damage to the HTF. Congress must address this user-fee inequity now.
New solutions for highway investment
Securing equitable user-fee contributions from road users is priority No. 1. If it sounds too good to be true, too unfathomable to execute at a national level, it isn’t. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, four-fifths of the states have already implemented EV registration fees to make up for lost fuel tax revenues.
Other worthwhile HTF revenue proposals include VMTs and GVW.
The vehicles miles traveled (VMTs) proposal does exactly what it says: assess a fee on the number of miles a vehicle travels, directly correlating to its use of our roadways. VMTs have been piloted in states from Oregon to Virginia. The technologies already exist to capture VMT data without raising privacy concerns. VMTs are not a new, untested trick. They’ve been explored for years with promising results at local, state, and federal levels.
A national gross vehicle weight (GVW) registration fee also does what it says: enabling the collection of fees based on the weight of the vehicle, thereby eliminating drivetrain variables. GVW fees could easily be incorporated into existing vehicle registration renewal systems. Many states already impose GVW fees, making a national program enacted at the state level viable. Those funds could then be remitted to the states via current HTF formula funding.
Congress must ensure all users invest in our highways
As of this writing, we don’t know if the EV and hybrid fees will make it into the Senate’s version of the budget reconciliation process. Nevertheless, NAPA and its 1,100+ member companies will continue advocating for this critical policy objective with our elected officials.
NAPA was honored to have our very own Ty Johnson of the Fred Smith Company in Raleigh, NC, represent the asphalt pavement industry during a timely hearing on the HTF in April. Mr. Johnson’s testimony before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee echoed many of the points shared here.
We were also pleased to see Chairman Sam Graves (R-Mo.) and the T&I Committee pass their title within the Big, Beautiful Bill including an annual $250 EV fee and $100 hybrid fee. These funds are projected to contribute almost $50 billion to the HTF over the lifespan of the bill. While this measure alone won’t solve all the HTF financial ills, it is a major step, representing the first user-fee injection into the HTF since the release of the original Jurassic Park.
The Big, Beautiful Bill is emerging as arguably the biggest policy item of President Trump’s second term. This package can’t move forward without securing new user fees into the HTF, and we must address the financial crisis that looms over the next highway reauthorization package.
Across America’s highways, vehicles are going farther and hauling more efficiently than we could have imagined in the nineties. It’s time to ditch our vintage views on user fees and secure funding for safe roads that drive America’s economic prosperity.
• Nile Elam is vice president of government affairs for the National Asphalt Pavement Association.
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