A New Road for Infrastructure Spending

A popular lament is that Washington is too polarized and a lack of bipartisanship cripples the ability of policymakers to get things done on Capitol Hill. When it comes to spending, however, the disagreement between Republicans and Democrats tends to boil down to how much should be spent and by what means. Federal spending on transportation infrastructure is a perfect example and, unfortunately, neither side is asking a more fundamental question: Should the federal government be involved at all?

That question might strike readers as quaint, given that today’s federal government can spend money on pretty much anything it wants, including transportation infrastructure. But as the Congressional Budget Office noted last year, state and local governments already pay for approximately three-quarters of total highway and mass transit spending. Most of the remaining money comes from the federal Highway Trust Fund, which is primarily supported by the federal gas tax.

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