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Title: Reagan Devolution: The Brief Story of the 1982 Gas Tax
Accession Number: 01587898
Record Type: Component
Abstract: In the context of the perpetual search for reliable and sustainable surface transportation funding, the Highway Revenue Act of 1982 has become a legend of bipartisanship. But how did Secretary of Transportation Drew Lewis convince anti-tax President Ronald Reagan to not only more than double the existing gas tax, but also to dedicate funding towards a mass transit account? Careful examination of documents from the Reagan Library archives show that the reality was messier than history remembers. By linking the gas tax increase to deficit reduction and “devolution” of transportation funding to the states (following the popular policy of “New Federalism”), Lewis was able to achieve the seemingly impossible and secure long term funding for the Highway Trust Fund. As today’s policymakers search for revenue options to put the Highway Trust Fund back on a path to solvency, the lessons of how a politically divided Congress dealt with the issue are still relevant more than 30 years later.
Supplemental Notes: This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ABG50 Standing Committee on Transportation History.
Alternate title: Reagan Devolution: Brief Story of the 1982 Gas Tax
Monograph Title: Monograph Accession #: 01584066
Report/Paper Numbers: 16-3998
Language: English
Corporate Authors: Transportation Research Board 500 Fifth Street, NW Authors: Davis, JeffBastian, ElizabethLewis, PaulPagination: 16p
Publication Date: 2016
Conference:
Transportation Research Board 95th Annual Meeting
Location:
Washington DC, United States Media Type: Digital/other
Features: References
TRT Terms: Identifier Terms: Subject Areas: Economics; Finance; Highways; History; I10: Economics and Administration
Source Data: Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2016 Paper #16-3998
Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
Created Date: Jan 12 2016 5:46PM
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