Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) has introduced The UPDATE Act (H.R. 3636), a bill that would increase the 18.4 cents per gallon federal gas tax by 15 cents. This change would result in additional funding for federal transportation funding in an attempt to close or reduce the current budget gap in federal infrastructure funding of approximately $20 billion.

The federal gas tax was last increased in 1993 and has remained the same ever since. If this amount were to be indexed to inflation, the rate would be about 30 cents per gallon, close to the rate with Rep. Blumenauer’s proposed legislation. Under Blumenauer’s proposal, the increase would be phased in starting in 2014 and indexed with inflation. A Gallup poll conducted earlier this year found that nearly two-thirds of drivers are against a gas tax increase.