House Transportation and Infrastructure recommendations would boost Coast Guard, fund air-traffic modernization and propose EV fees for Highway Trust Fund

A witness before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Thursday outlined the committee’s recommendations to prioritize Coast Guard recapitalization, begin a multibillion-dollar modernization of the nation’s air-traffic control system and address a long-running shortfall in the Highway Trust Fund.

The witness summarized the package as combining “critical investments in border security, our national defense, and needed modernization of air traffic control, with cuts to wasteful spending and some other deficit reducing measures.”

The recommendations would provide about $21 billion to recapitalize Coast Guard assets, the witness said, directing more than half of the maritime funding toward cutters, aircraft and icebreakers as well as construction of supporting facilities. The package also includes a roughly $12.5 billion “down payment” for air-traffic control modernization to replace critical communications infrastructure, radar systems, airport-surface surveillance projects and to address controller recruitment, retention and training, the witness said. The witness referenced recent aviation accidents and described the Federal Aviation Administration as facing “serious operational and financial challenges due to its aging infrastructure and workforce shortages.”

On surface-transportation funding, the witness cited a Congressional Budget Office projection of a $142 billion cumulative shortfall in the Highway Trust Fund over five years following the authorization’s expiration. To address that gap, the committee’s recommendation would implement a $250 annual fee on electric vehicles and a $100 annual fee on hybrid vehicles, with the collections deposited in the Highway Trust Fund. The witness characterized the proposal as a fairness issue, saying, “For too long, EVs operated on our nation's roads without paying into the system, which is primarily funded by federal taxes on gasoline and diesel.”

The witness also said the committee’s maritime funding aligns with the president’s recent executive order to strengthen U.S. shipbuilding capabilities.

These remarks presented the committee’s recommendations rather than enacted legislation. The transcript does not record a formal committee vote or final enactment of the fees or spending levels described. The witness closed by saying the recommendations “deliver on those objectives” and offered to answer questions.

The transcript excerpt does not identify the witness by name; the remarks occurred during a committee hearing and were presented as the committee’s recommendations rather than as implemented law.