The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Board of Directors approved a resolution opposing the suspension or repeal of the Federal Motor Fuels Tax this week.

In a unanimous vote, the board agreed that current proposals to suspend the tax for three months would cause a $9 billion drop in receipts to the Highway Trust Fund or increase the General Fund deficit by the same amount. Meanwhile, the board found that the savings to the average motorist would amount to $28 dollars or one-half the price of a single tank of gas.

The board resolution also states that such a proposal would establish a harmful precedent that could disrupt the stability of Federal highway and transit investments.

The AASHTO board through its resolution urges members of Congress to oppose any suspension of transportation system user fees, such as the Federal Motor Fuels Tax, since this would do little to provide relief to the American public and would establish an unacceptable precedent for the financing of the user-fee based highway and transit programs in this country.

AASHTO president Pete Rahn, said "a gas tax holiday is no holiday for the American people, who depend on safe and reliable transportation. In short, it's a bad idea."

AASHTO, founded in 1914 and based in Washington, D.C., represents the transportation departments of all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Visit http://www.transportation.org for more information.