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n n Reducing spending to align with available revenue. Continuing the General Fund transfers and short���term policies that have sustained the program since 2008. These choices of how to finance and how much revenue to generate are in turn intertwined with questions of what to finance and what the federal role in transportation investment should be. There remains broad opposition to an increase in the gas tax, especially given current prices at the pump. Neither the President nor the House or the Senate is likely to endorse one, especially stand��� ing on its own. There have been a wide range of other ideas floated on how to raise additional revenue. The President campaigned on a proposal to use the ���peace dividend��� from wind��� ing down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as a financing source. There have been various proposals to link transportation and energy revenues, ei��� ther through new taxes on wholesale oil sales and speculative trading of oil fu��� tures (a Democratic proposal from the 111th Congress); or expanding domestic oil and gas drilling and devoting the new revenues to transportation (a Republi��� can proposal from the 112th Congress). Others have proposed indexing the gas tax for inflation or converting the cur��� rent fixed per���gallon tax to a percentage sales tax. There does not appear to be any political will for converting to a mileage���based fee or Vehicle Miles Trav��� eled (VMT) tax, although many experts point to the VMT as the most sustain��� able and equitable long���term solution. Another possibility receiving increasing attention is addressing transportation finance as part of a ���grand bargain��� or comprehensive fiscal reform package. In its final report, the Simpson���Bowles Commission recommended gradually increasing the gas tax by 15 cents over three years and limiting spending to those receipts. During the Super Com��� mittee process, the ���Gang of Six��� pro��� posed maintaining the current gas tax 16 ROCKproducts ��� DECEMBER 2012 but raising $133 billion over 10 years for transportation as part of compre��� hensive tax reform. Turning to non���transportation revenue sources, however, raises separate con��� cerns about departing from the user fee principle embodied in the gas tax. Be��� cause highways and transit are funded through a Trust Fund with their own dedicated user fee, the funding is not subject to annual appropriations ��� nor to sequestration ��� and authorizing legis��� lation is able to provide guaranteed multi���year funding or ���contract author��� ity.��� If the user fee link is severed, so too may be the special budgetary status of the surface transportation program. The other fundamental choice is to re��� duce spending to align with Highway Trust Fund receipts. Without additional revenue, spending would have to be cut by 30 percent to stay within available Trust Fund balances. There is a view that if additional revenue cannot be raised, the federal program has no choice but to live within its means and should be refocused on the core ele��� ments of the nation���s transportation system ��� those of clear and longstand��� ing federal interest. CONGRESS RETURNS TO WORK Paralyzed for months by the tight and divisive 2012 presidential election, Congress returned to Washington on Nov. 13 to face a long list of hard issues and votes that would have given even the most collegial Congress fts, according to the National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association (NSSGA). The most serious of issues faced is the ���fscal cliff��� that is looming on Jan. 2, which is a $600 billion combination of rising tax rates and expiring preferential tax policies. This is a historic and completely obvious threat to the nation���s economy. Although Highway Trust Fund programs are exempt from the cuts due to provisions of MAP-21, NSSGA and its coalition partners will be vigilant as Congress deals with these diffcult fscal issues. If that weren't enough, also looming at the beginning of 2013 are $1.2 trillion in ���sequestration��� cuts from discretionary spending, half of which would come from the Department of Defense. Without congressional action, the defense industry nationwide will be sending out hundreds of thousands of pink slips to be served with the Thanksgiving turkey. Meanwhile, an already weak economy has seen GDP growth slide from 3 percent at the end of 2011 to 2 percent in the frst quarter of this year, 1.3 percent in the second and 2 percent in the third (according to numbers released Nov. 2). The Congressional Budget Offce has predicted that the U.S. will be in a recession in 2013 if the tax increases and sequester go into effect. That means more pain for American families and possibly a return to double-digit unemployment. Presidential election years are always a tricky time for anyone looking to get anything done in Washington; neither party has much incentive to cooperate, and for the minority party, the prospect of controlling the White House come January acts as a powerful incentive to do nothing. But this year has been signifcantly worse. With Republicans in control of the House, Democrats of the Senate, and partisanship at an all-time high, the atmosphere has been toxic even on good days ��� and the election has only made it uglier. With the recent election results, it is diffcult to see any signifcant changes coming. The wheels of government were grinding to a halt long before the electoral homestretch began in September ��� dozens of critical bills were essentially put on hold in Congress while federal agencies began slow-walking numerous environmental, labor and health regulations. With the elections over, we know who will be president and in control of the House and Senate. However, just one glance at Congress��� record on making decisions casts a dark shadow over hopes of a lot getting done during the Lame Duck session. www.rockproducts.com