fuel prices

Group says it would hurt small businesses, burden consumers, reduce disposable income

Imagine if you were living today on the same $1-per-week allowance your parents gave you as a child. It would be tough to pay the mortgage, buy food and find transportation, much less visit the doctor and hairdresser and otherwise keep yourself presentable. That’s the situation facing the Highway Trust Fund (HTF), created by the federal government back in 1956 to pay for highway construction and maintenance. Feeding the fund is an 18.3-cents-per-gallon federal tax on gasoline and 24.4-cents-per-gallon tax on diesel—the same level set back in 1993.

Record petroleum volumes are being sent overseas, setting up dicey conditions