In a letter issued earlier this month to Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-ID), NPC joined dozens of national and regional agricultural organizations to offer its support of broad-based funding mechanisms in future transportation reauthorization bills.
“Large volumes of commodities and agricultural products are transported from mostly rural areas to numerous origin-destination pairs before these goods reach domestic consumers and export customers. Because of this, a well-maintained, efficient and safe freight transportation system is vitally important to U.S. agriculture,” the group writes.
However, the organizations cautioned that they would oppose any proposals – should they be offered – to fund a transportation reauthorization bill by disproportionately burdening freight transportation, such as through a truck-only vehicle miles tax.
The group wrote that “a truck-only vehicle miles tax would increase truck transportation costs, leading to lower farmgate prices and reduced market share for U.S. agriculture versus our foreign competitors. We urge you to include broad-based funding mechanisms to ensure all who benefit from the transportation system contribute fairly to upgrading and maintaining America’s roads and bridges.”