Well That Was Quick: Obama Disavows Mileage Fee Proposal

The Hill is reporting that the Obama administration has already sworn off a move toward a vehicle-miles-traveled fee. We just reported that an undated draft of the administration transportation proposal included the creation of an office to study the feasibility of implementing such a system to replace the traditional fuel tax.

The Hill’s Keith Laing writes:

The proposal was included in a draft of the administration’s Transportation Opportunities Act, but a White House spokesman said it “was not an administration proposal.”

“This is not a bill supported by the administration,” White House spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki said. “This was an early working draft proposal that was never formally circulated within the administration, does not take into account the advice of the president’s senior advisers, economic team or Cabinet officials, and does not represent the views of the president.”

This calls into question not just the VMT fee but all the proposals in the draft bill being circulated. If the White House is walking away from one piece of it, who knows what other elements in the draft have already been removed?