http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/23/opinion/fixing-infrastructure-at-last-something-to-agree-on.html 2016-09-22 21:45:31 Fixing Infrastructure: At Last, Something to Agree On Common Good and an Oregon congressman discuss addressing red tape and an increase in the gas tax, respectively. === To the Editor: “ The main hurdle is not financing, however, but red tape. Congress funded an $800 billion stimulus plan in 2009, and five years later only $30 billion had been spent on transportation infrastructure. As President Obama put it, “There’s no such thing as shovel-ready projects.” Delays of a decade or longer are common. Last year, Common Good published a report, “ What the candidates need to address is how to create clear lines of authority to cut through red tape. Until then, vital projects will languish on the drawing boards. PHILIP K. HOWARD Chairman, Common Good Brooklyn To the Editor: It is heartening to see a focus on infrastructure investment in the coverage of the presidential race. There is a straightforward solution to our infrastructure crisis: Raise the gas tax. Increasing the federal user fee is supported by the broadest coalition behind any major public policy issue, including business and labor groups, economists, environmentalists and more. This isn’t a partisan issue. Seven red states raised the gas tax last year alone. We don’t have to wait for a new president to fix crumbling roads and aging transit systems. All we need is for Congress to show a fraction of the courage we’ve seen at the state and local levels to raise infrastructure revenue. Raising the gas tax will create family-wage jobs — helping us deal with income inequality — and will stimulate the economy, and at the same time fix the bottlenecks stifling freight movement and commuters alike. There is no better time to act. EARL BLUMENAUER Washington The writer, a Democrat, represents Oregon’s Third District in the House.