New House Bill Would Impose 1% Tax to Improve Freight Infrastructure
On December 8, 2011, Representative Smith (D-WA) and one co-sponsor1 introduced the National Freight Mobility Infrastructure Act (H.R. 3607), a bill that would impose a freight-specific tax which would be used to fund freight infrastructure.
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Would Impose 1% Tax on Multi-Modal Ground Transportation Costs
H.R. 3607 would impose a National Mobility Infrastructure Tax of one percent on the fair market value of multi-modal ground transportation costs, with a few exceptions for federal, state, and local government transportation, and transport within a local geographic area. The fee would be deposited into a new National Freight Mobility Infrastructure Fund exclusively dedicated to supporting freight mobility projects.
Would Create Program to Fund Freight Mobility Improvement Projects
H.R. 3607 would also create a Freight Mobility Infrastructure Improvement Program within the Department of Transportation to provide long-term financing for critical infrastructure improvement goals. (Through the Program, the Secretary of Transportation would competitively award grants based on a project’s impact on freight mobility improvement, cost effectiveness, and regional/national economic impact.)
Representative Smith introduced the same legislation in 2009 (H.R. 2707), but it never moved out of committee.
1Representative Dicks (D-WA).
Representative Smith’s press release on H.R. 3607 available here
H.R. 3607 available here