Brad Ashford (DINO NEBR) to push for bipartisan solution on highway funding

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.omaha.com/news/metro/brad-ashford-to-push-for-bipartisan-solution-on-highway-funding/article_3e5901bd-cd23-5086-96dc-147ce09f7997.html

POSTED: MONDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2015 3:00 PM | UPDATED: 3:11 PM, MON OCT 12, 2015.
By Henry J. Cordes / World-Herald staff writer

With the nation’s highway trust fund “running on fumes,’’ U.S. Rep. Brad Ashford said Monday he will push during the next two weeks for a bipartisan solution to the nation’s ailing roads and bridges.

The latest temporary fix for highway funding is set to expire at the end of this month. While there is broad agreement that lawmakers should stop such temporary fixes and pass a six-year highway bill for the first time since 2009, there’s little agreement on how to fund it. That has left highway funding stuck in gridlock.

“It’s very reflective of where we are as a Congress,’’ Ashford said Monday in Omaha.

The federal gas tax has remained at 18.4 cents since 1993, losing nearly 40 percent of its value to inflation in that time. As a result, the gas tax is generating about $35 billion a year, far short of the nation’s $50 billion road-building budget. Congress has been making up the difference by tapping other funds, adding to federal deficits.

FULL story at link.