The Fleet Business Authority
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Oliver B. Patton • Washington Editor WASHINGTON report panel in the House handle the money. Baucus and Camp are moving their committees along separate but parallel paths toward producing reform plans this fall, a Finance Committee spokesman said. They share the objective of producing comprehensive reform to a tax system that is out of kilter. "It has become too complex and confusing, and the problem will not go away on its own," they say on their joint website, www.taxreform.gov. Baucus and Camp say they want a bipartisan approach but acknowledge their effort faces fierce headwinds. "People from across the spectrum are trying to turn tax Sen. Max Baucus and Rep. Dave Camp are moving their respective comreform into a political weapon, which mittees along separate but parallel paths toward producing reform plans could end up killing any chance at success." this fall. They say that to be successful their effort must transcend politics. "It has to be Two congressional leaders who have been working on about restoring some trust in government, improving the tax reform for the past couple of years are getting closer lives of the people we serve, about boosting the economy." to drafting proposals that could include renewed commitTrust surely is in short supply on Capitol Hill these ment to highway funding. days, and it will be difficult to separate politics from this Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the Senate effort. As Phillips pointed out, members of Congress will Finance Committee, and Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., need protection, or at least a shared sense of risk, in order chairman of the House Ways and to vote to raise revenue. "People from across the Means Committee, have held dozens "If (transportation issues) are going of hearings on ways to improve corpoto be addressed by raising the fuel tax spectrum are trying to rate and individual taxation. or something meaningful in terms of turn tax reform into a On the table is a broad range of the revenue stream, it's probably going possible changes to the ways the govpolitical weapon, which to need to be part of a larger packernment collects and spends money to vote could end up killing any age," she said. "It's too hardaastand-for pay for infrastructure. members to take as part of chance at success." Close followers of trucking interalone bill." ests on Capitol Hill see the Baucus – Sen. Max Baucus & Rep. Dave Camp The options and Camp initiatives as the likeliest The reform ideas summarized way for Congress to break through on the Baucus-Camp website reflect the full spectrum of the inertia that has stalled infrastructure reinvestment. perspectives on highway funding, from essentially doing "The larger tax reform effort, or an energy bill, is the nothing to fundamentally changing the current system. key to the next highway bill, just because that's where the The do-nothing approach is to simply limit infrastrucrevenue issues can be addressed," says Mary Phillips, senior ture spending to whatever is available in the trust fund acvice president of legislative affairs at American Trucking count, as suggested by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and prohibit Associations. any more borrowing from general revenues. While other committees handle transportation policy, The second is to pass all revenues from federal taxes and the Finance panel in the Senate and the Ways and Means Tax reform effort could include infrastructure funding t 12 HDT • DECEMBER 2013 www.truckinginfo.com