Highway trust fund in trouble

Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, said it's clear that Congress must raise the federal gas tax, which is now 18.4 cents per gallon.

Citing the lack of inflation indexing for the gas tax and a decline in gas consumption (the EIA says that motor gasoline consumption is down from 61 million gallons per day in March 2003 to 51 million in March 2009), the NY Times reports that the federal Highway Trust Fund will run out of money in August. Not sure that much is going to happen, though:

Two congressionally mandated commissions have called for an immediate increase in the gas tax. The first commission, which issued its report in early 2008, recommended a 40-cent per gallon hike. The second panel, which issued its report earlier this year, recommended the tax be increased 10 cents per gallon for gas and 15 cents per gallon for diesel, and that both be indexed to inflation.