Pennsylvania Approves Privatization of Highways
Halfway through the Pennsylvania statehouse is a bill to allow the state to partner with private groups to help get work done on transportation infrastructure.
OOIDA officials say truckers already pay taxes and other user fees to access freeways. As a result, charging tolls on existing roads would amount to an additional tax.
The Association’s list of highway funding principles notes that tolls are taxes, and paying both tolls and fuel taxes amounts to double taxation. Regardless, House lawmakers voted 128-66 on Wednesday, April 4, to advance a bill to the Senate that would set up a framework for deals with private groups from across the continent to fund work on roads and bridges.