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March 25: Transport and the Tea Party: How Conservatives Talk About the Gas Tax from Streetsblog Capitol Hill
- ...But lawmakers have shown an indefatigable will to fight over the dwindling gas tax revenues that the government does collect. Conservatives often push for states to get the maximum amount of their gas-tax dollars directed back home in the form of guaranteed highway spending -- a boon to states with more drivers and newer roads, but a setback for states with older infrastructure and denser cities that diminish the need for auto use. This conflict is known as the "donor-donee" issue. It does not split states along near ideological lines: California is the federal road program's No. 1 "donor," with "donee" states concentrated in the northeast and mountain west, according to the lobbying group Coalition for Donor State Equity.
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