Rep. Laura Richardson, D-Calif., has added some new ideas to the ongoing debate over the federal highway program, introducing a bill that would create a Goods Movement Trust Fund funded in part by a 12-cent hike in the diesel tax paid by trucks.


Richardson's bill, The Freight Focus Act of 2010, stipulates that any money raised from only a single mode would be dedicated to projects that benefit that mode. Besides the fuel tax, it envisions a transfer of $3 billion a year from general revenues into the trust fund. It also would create a National Freight Advisory Committee to give the private sector a voice in funding priorities and planning.

Other sections of the bill are similar to provisions in other reauthorization proposals, such as creation of an office of freight planning at the Department of Transportation, and designation of freight corridors of national significance.

"Transportation hubs across the nation are hampered by aging infrastructure and unsupported transportation corridors," Rep. Richardson said in a statement. "This is badly needed legislation that will improve the flow of goods across the country, create jobs through the construction of infrastructure and the enhanced national freight network, and improve the economy."

The bill was greeted with immediate acclaim by American Trucking Associations.

"This legislation will go a long way toward addressing critical bottlenecks on our nation's most important highway corridors," said ATA President and CEO Bill Graves in a statement. "These chokepoints cost the trucking industry tens of billions of dollars each year, and force trucks to waste a tremendous amount of fuel. With Congresswoman Richardson's help, we can begin to fix these problem areas."

The bill was referred to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, of which Rep. Richardson is a member and which already has drafted a massive reauthorization bill, as well as to the House Ways and Means Committee and the House Rules Committee.