Ads Coincide with House & Senate Tax Committee
Hearings this Week on Long-Term Transportation Funding
The American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) and its industry allies are launching advertising campaigns on multiple mediums this week to draw congressional attention to the urgent need to find a permanent solution for the federal Highway Trust Fund (HTF).
ARTBA is running a 60-second television ad touting its “Getting Beyond Gridlock” (GBG) proposal. GBG marries a 15 cents-per-gallon increase in the federal gas and diesel motor fuels tax with an offsetting federal tax rebate for middle and lower income Americans for six years, if necessary. The plan would fund a six-year, $401 billion, highway and public transit capital investment program and provide sustainable, user-based funds to support it for at least the next 10 years. The TV spot will air multiple times June 16-18 on Fox and CNN inside Washington, D.C. Watch the ad.
The association has also deployed companion digital ads that direct congressional staff to the GBG website for additional information about how their states would benefit from the program’s implementation.
The HTF is the source, on average, of more than 50 percent of highway and bridge capital investments made annually by state governments. The latest funding authorization for the highway and public transit program expires July 31. The House Ways & Means and Senate Finance Committees are holding hearings this week to explore long-term funding options to improve the trust fund’s fiscal health.
ARTBA said it has also produced a new print ad that will run this week in Capitol Hill publications. “There is one sure way to sustainably end the Highway Trust Fund’s chronic cash flow problem… and not just for five or six years. Increase the federal motor fuels excise rate by 15-cents per gallon and index it to inflation,” the ad reads. “The government’s energy experts see pretty stable short term motor fuel consumption ahead. Adjusting the gas and diesel excise rate now will result in a highly predictable and reliable revenue stream for Highway Trust Fund investments for years to come,” the ad concludes.
To compliment these efforts, the ARTBA co-chaired Transportation Construction Coalition (TCC) and the American Public Transportation Association are partnering on a 60-second television ad this week highlighting President Ronald Reagan’s 1982 gas tax increase proposal to support highway and public transit improvements. It will air June 16-18 on CNN and Fox News inside Washington, D.C. The TCC is also running a companion June 16-18 during morning and afternoon drive time on Washington’s top rated, news talk station, WTOP.