Amendment Extends Tolling Ban Through 2010
WASHINGTON D.C. As part of the Fiscal Year 2010 Transportation Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies Appropriations bill an amendment to ban tolling on existing federal highways offered by U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) has passed the Senate. Sen. Hutchison has consistently opposed efforts to impose tolls on existing federally-funded roads which motorists have already paid for through taxes.
I believe taxing Americans twice for the same asset is fundamentally unfair and I oppose any effort to place tolls on existing interstate highways" said Sen. Hutchison. As we work to meet our transportation needs we must think broadly and avoid band-aid solutions like tolling that will ultimately exacerbate congestion and divert traffic into residential neighborhoods and onto smaller less safe roads."
Sen. Hutchisons amendment prevents states private entities or private-public partnerships from adding tolls on existing free highways bridges or tunnels built with federal funding. Furthermore the amendment prohibits states from attempting to purchase highways from the federal government and place them under state ownership or lease them to foreign investors for the purpose of tolling them.
In 2007 Sen. Hutchison successfully passed legislation that prohibits the tolling of existing federal highways built with taxpayer dollars in Texas. Sen. Hutchisons amendment passed and was signed into law as part of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 THUD Appropriations bill. The Senate extended the provision through September 30 2009.
Sen. Hutchison has been working to prohibit this form of double taxation since 2005 when she introduced a similar tolling prohibition amendment to the Senate version of the Safe Accountable Flexible Efficient Transportation Equity Act: a Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU).
