Follow Reagan’s Example, and Fill Up America’s Highway Fund

July 10, 2015 | Jeff Davis

July 10, 2015

With the Highway Trust Fund set to expire three weeks from today on July 31, 2015, the Washington Post has published an opinion piece detailing how a celebrated conservative President used a conservative argument to get Congress to do something unexpected but necessary — raise the gas tax. Read it here: “Follow Reagan’s example, and fill up America’s highway fund”

Joshua Schank – former Transportation Policy Advisor to Hillary Clinton and now President/CEO of the Eno Center for Transportation – and Jeff Davis – Eno Fellow and founder of Eno Transportation Weekly – co-authored the piece. In it, the two follow up on Davis’ comprehensive report entitled Reagan Devolution: The Real Story of the 1982 Gas Tax Increase.

Released in May, the report details the story behind the Highway Revenue Act of 1982. While seen as a triumph of bipartisanship, the politics behind the increase were much more complicated. The report sheds light on how Congress can potentially work together today to reach a solution for our current highway trust fund crisis.

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