Page 93 - BizVoice May/June 2013
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May/June 2013 –
BizVoice
/Indiana Chamber
93
the advances is often behind the times.
The federal Highway Trust Fund is the main source of
revenue for the government’s surface transportation
programs and its biggest revenue source is the federal gas
tax. As vehicles become more fuel efficient – and heavy-
duty fleets are switching to alternative fuels – less money is
being collected from the federal fuel tax (the amount, 18.4
cents per gallon, has not been adjusted in 20 years) for
transportation infrastructure improvements.
“The future is now. We’ve kicked the can down the
road without making hard decisions. Technology
innovation has outpaced the policy response to it and its
possibilities. We need to be anticipatory as to what the
future will look like,” Carter demands.
Locally, House Bill 1324, authored by Rep. Randy
Frye (R-Greensburg), was introduced to offer incentives for
purchasing heavy-duty natural gas vehicles that exceed
33,000 pounds. The legislation (it was amended and its
ultimate fate was determined following our publication
deadline) would also collect state gross retail taxes on
natural gas, propane and butane fuels for transportation.
Dufour says Monarch is behind equitable tax
collection, even though passage of the bill would cost the
company more money.
“We are completely on board with the agreement the
state needs tax revenue. We think it should be equivalent
to diesel,” he explains.
Carter agrees, “In the framework of the
Indiana Vision
2025
plan, we want to get as close as possible to a user-fee
model. The principle is, if you use road infrastructure, you
pay for it.”
WWW. G R A I N B E LT E X P R E S S C L E A N L I N E . C O M
The transmission line project and
resulting wind farms will create
thousands of construction jobs and
support manufacturing jobs in Indiana.
The Grain Belt Express Clean Line
transmission project will deliver
enough low-cost, clean energy for
1.4 million American homes.
COMPETITIVE, CLEAN ENERGY
Alternatives Abound
Continued from page 89
I N F O R M A T I O N L I N K
Resources:
Cam Carter, Indiana Chamber of
Commerce, at
Kellie Walsh, Greater Indiana Clean Cities Coalition,
at
Mayor Greg Ballard, city of Indianapolis, at
Fred Dufour, Monarch Beverage, at
Calvin Davidson, Ray’s Trash Services, at
