To help address pain at the pump, Democrats in Congress want to temporarily tax windfall profits of oil companies, which are suddenly earning more because of the war in Iran, and give that money to taxpayers as a tax rebate. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump and some Congressional Republicans are floating the idea of pausing the federal gas tax to help with costs at the pump. So, we thought it’d be a good time to look more closely at the gas tax and how it shows up in our everyday lives. If you’ve ever driven to see the sunrise in the Grand Canyon or a grizzly bear romp in Yellowstone, chances are the federal gas tax helped get you there. A federal gas tax pause is being floated as U.S. consumers struggle with higher prices at the pump.Mario Tama/Getty ImagesThe tax has been around for 94 years, and goes into “all kinds of different projects around the country — highways, bridges,” and even buses and light rails, he said. But the tax collector for all those projects lives in your gas pump. “If you drive more, you buy more gas, you pay more in tax,” explained Adam Hoffer, director of excise tax policy at the Tax Foundation. Depending on the size of your car, it’s about two bucks every time you fill up. The federal gas tax hasn’t been boosted since 1993.“The gas tax is never going to win a popularity contest,” Hoffer said. “Almost everyone dislikes gas taxes.”But bad roads are unpopular too, which Hoffer said is related. “In the past decade, the gas tax really hasn't kept up with the amount of federal expenditures on roads.”A growing economy requires a lot of roads and bridges and upkeep to move those products. But you’ve got to pay for all that, and that’s getting a little hard as cars get more efficient — and electrified. “And it's a challenge to tax those users because they don't use gasoline,” said Rob Godby, a University of Wyoming economics professor. If we were to eliminate the gas tax even for, say, four months, Godby said that could be an $11 billion revenue hit. “It's probably borrowing more money, and that's just worsening an already more significant problem in terms of government budget deficit,” he said.Borrowing money, because those roadway projects have to happen — projects like a new $4 billion bridge over the Ohio River. “And really that connects the northern Kentucky region to Cincinnati,” said Gracie Kelly, director of government affairs at the Kentucky League of Cities. She’s talking about the Brent Spence Bridge. “That's an example of what that federal gas tax goes towards.”On one side of that new bridge — in Kentucky — the governor ordered up a 10-cent reduction in the state gas tax temporarily.Above, a rendering of the new Brent Spence Bridge, which is funded in part by the federal gas tax.Brent Spence Bridge Corridor