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Oberstar Highway Trust Fund Fix

Thursday, July 30th, 2009 at 5:51 am

Congress passed a $7-million dollar measure Wednesday to fix the National Highway Trust Fund.  The trust fund is running short because the 18.4 cent per gallon gasoline tax was last raised in 1993 and has not kept pace with construction inflation, which has risen 47 percent in the last 16 years.

Congressman Jim Oberstar of Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District is working with the House Ways and Means Committee to come up with a permanent fix for the Highway Trust Fund that will not involve increasing the gasoline tax.

Oberstar on the trust fund:

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The legislation passed  363 to 68.  Oberstars office says that lack of action could result in the loss of over 240,000 jobs nationwide because states would have to cut back on highway projects.

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