newsworthy
GOP weighs expanded energy development to fund infrastructure programs
House Republicans are considering opening up federal
lands and offshore locations to expanded oil and gas development as a way to generate revenue to fund infrastructure
improvements, a leading transportation attorney said.
James H. Burnley IV, a prominent lawyer and lobbyist who
served as transportation secretary during the last two years of
the Reagan administration, told the Council of Supply Chain
Management Professionals’ Annual Global Conference in
Philadelphia that expanded energy drilling and development
activities would generate fees, royalties, and increased tax
revenues that could be dedicated to the Highway Trust Fund,
the program used to finance infrastructure programs.
In an e-mail to DC VELOCITY prior to the conference,
Burnley acknowledged the proposal’s controversial nature.
He added, however, that it “is the first new idea in quite a
while” designed to generate new revenue to pay for road
and bridge improvements.
Such a plan would likely come under attack from environmentalists as well as from those who believe no one
industry should be singled out as a revenue source for highway programs.
The latest proposal comes as House and Senate lawmak-
ers wrangle over legislation that would reauthorize funding
for the nation’s highway programs. Rep. John L. Mica (R-
Fla.), chair of the House Transportation & Infrastructure
Committee, has proposed a six-year, $238 billion reautho-
rization whose funding would not exceed revenues that
come into the Highway Trust Fund, which is financed from
excise taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel. The Senate has pro-
posed a two-year, $109 billion reauthorization that would
keep funding mostly at current levels.
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