In the past five years, nearly half the states in the nation have raised revenues to fund transportation infrastructure—either through new taxes or other measures—and Louisiana should follow suit, a top executive from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce says.
In an address this afternoon at the Statewide Economic Development Summit 2017, Edward Mortimer, the U.S. Chamber’s executive director of transportation infrastructure, urged the economic development professionals in the audience to get behind proposals that will be debated during this Legislative session to raise the state’s gasoline tax.
“You all are competing with states around the country that have been willing to step up to the plate to raise their revenues,” said Mortimer, noting that 23 states have raised transportation dollars in recent years. “Infrastructure shouldn’t be a Republican or a Democratic issue. It should be an American issue.”
State lawmakers this session will take up several measures that would raise the gas tax anywhere from 7% to 17%, which would generate hundreds of millions of dollars a year to begin tackling the state’s $13 billion backlog of road and bridge projects and $16 billion worth of new capacity-enhancing projects.
Mortimer noted that Louisiana’s current debate over raising its gasoline tax comes at an opportune time—just as the new Trump administration is promising to invest some $1 trillion over the next decade in the nation’s infrastructure. The U.S. Chamber has been lobbying for such investment for years, and worked with both the Clinton and Trump campaigns in the months leading up to the 2016 presidential election to get them on board, Mortimer said.
“The federal government is stepping up and it’s a great opportunity to do something different and not just wait, postpone, delay,” he said.
Details about the Trump administration’s infrastructure investment program have not yet been released, but Mortimer says U.S. Chamber officials are hoping the plan will be unveiled by mid-May, to coincide with National Infrastructure Week.
“After that, there will hundreds of events around the country highlighting the importance of transportation around the country,” he said. “We need to step up our elected officials to make the tough call.”
—Stephanie Riegel
