美国国家公共电台 NPR It's Been 25 Years Since The Federal Gas Tax Went Up

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Today, we are marking an anniversary. Twenty-five years ago this week was the last time the federal gas tax went up. Today, that tax is still what it was in 1993 - 18.4 cents per gallon. And yet the costs of building and maintaining roads and bridges are going up. Here's more from NPR's David Schaper.

DAVID SCHAPER, BYLINE¹: The first week of October 1993, the top TV shows were "Home Improvement," "Seinfeld" and the first "Roseanne." The top song was Mariah Carey's "Dreamlover." You could still buy a Sony Walkman for 29.95. Gas was just $1.11 a gallon. And one of the top movies that year starred Bill Murray.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "GROUNDHOG DAY")

BILL MURRAY: (As Phil) Rita, I'm reliving the same day over and over.

CARL DAVIS: "Groundhog Day" is about Bill Murray's character getting caught in a time loop, and he spends decades reliving the same Groundhog Day. Those of us that have followed this gas tax debate can't help but feel some of that same repetition.

SCHAPER: Carl Davis is with the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation² and Economic Policy. And he says that's because the federal gas tax is still the same 18.4 cents a gallon that it was when "Groundhog Day" was playing in theaters 25 years ago.

DAVIS: The whole reason this tax exists is to keep our roads paved and to keep our bridges from falling down, and to do that effectively, it needs to collect a sustainable amount of revenue over time. And it can't do that if it's just not updated for decades at a time.

SCHAPER: With rising construction and labor³ costs and less gas being used in more fuel-efficient cars, the purchasing power of the gas tax is now 64 percent less than it was in 1993. Illinois Transportation Secretary Randy Blankenhorn says that stagnant⁴ federal gas tax means less money to fix and improve his state's highways, bridges and transit⁵ systems.

RANDY BLANKENHORN: We're losing revenue every day just because of inflation. Without new federal money, the cap of what we can do is there. We are right now simply maintaining what we have.

SCHAPER: So Kevin Pula of the National Conference of State Legislatures says, while Congress won't raise the federal gas tax, states are taking action themselves.

KEVIN PULA: In the last five years, we've seen many states - more than half of them, actually - enact⁶ legislation to increase funding for transportation.

SCHAPER: Since 2010, 33 states have raised their own motor fuel taxes. Missouri could join them next month if voters approve a 10-cents-a-gallon gas tax hike. And Colorado voters are being asked to raise the sales tax to boost transportation funding. And many states are also now indexing their gas tax to inflation so it'll go up as construction costs rise. Some states are also trying alternatives to the gas tax like mileage-based user fees that will tax electric cars that also wear down roads but don't use gas.

Staying with that "Groundhog Day" theme, Congress does hold hearings from time to time on ways to hike federal funding for transportation, but there's almost never a vote. Here's Nevada Congresswoman Dina Titus at one such hearing almost two years ago.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

DINA TITUS: We're having this same conversation, same rhetoric⁷ - need to fix the infrastructure⁸. We need to look at this. It's just a matter of paying for it. But there's no substantive⁹ plan.

SCHAPER: So when it comes to congressional inaction on transportation funding, as the late baseball legend Yogi Berra might say, it's deja vu all over again. David Schaper, NPR News, Chicago.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 taxation   

n.征税，税收，税金

参考例句：

• He made a number of simplifications in the taxation system.他在税制上作了一些简化。
• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。

3 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

4 stagnant   

adj.不流动的，停滞的，不景气的

参考例句：

• Due to low investment,industrial output has remained stagnant.由于投资少，工业生产一直停滞不前。
• Their national economy is stagnant.他们的国家经济停滞不前。

5 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

6 enact   

vt.制定(法律)；上演，扮演

参考例句：

• The U.S. Congress has exclusive authority to enact federal legislation.美国国会是唯一有权颁布联邦法律的。
• For example,a country can enact laws and economic policies to attract foreign investment fairly quickly.例如一个国家可以很快颁布吸引外资的法令和经济政策。

7 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

8 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

9 substantive   

adj.表示实在的；本质的、实质性的；独立的；n.实词，实名词；独立存在的实体

参考例句：

• They plan to meet again in Rome very soon to begin substantive negotiations.他们计划不久在罗马再次会晤以开始实质性的谈判。
• A president needs substantive advice,but he also requires emotional succor. 一个总统需要实质性的建议，但也需要感情上的支持。