The Status of the Highway Trust Fund and Options for Paying for Highway Spending Congressional
Title | The Status of the Highway Trust Fund and Options for Paying for Highway Spending Congressional PDF eBook |
Author | Congressional Budget Office |
Publisher | CreateSpace |
Pages | 24 |
Release | 2015-06-25 |
Genre | |
ISBN | 9781514700006 |
In 2014, governments at various levels spent $165 billion to build, operate, and maintain highways, and they spent $65 billion on mass transit systems. For both types of infrastructure, most of that spending was by state and local governments; about one-quarter of that total came from the federal government, mostly through the Highway Trust Fund. For several decades, the trust fund's balances were stable or growing, but more recently, annual spending for highways and transit has exceeded the amounts credited to the trust fund from taxes collected on gasoline, diesel fuel, and other transportation-related products and activities. Since 2008, in fact, lawmakers have transferred $65 billion from the U.S. Treasury's general fund to the Highway Trust Fund so that the trust fund's obligations could be met in a timely manner. Moreover, with its current revenue sources, the Highway Trust Fund cannot support spending at the current rate. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that spending in fiscal year 2015 for highways and transit programs funded from the Highway Trust Fund will be $44 billion and $8 billion, respectively, whereas revenues collected for those purposes are projected to be $34 billion and $5 billion, respectively. By CBO's estimate, at the end of fiscal year 2015, the balance in the trust fund's highway account will fall to about $2 billion and the balance in its transit account will be about $1 billion. The Department of Transportation (DOT) would probably need to delay payments to states at some point before the end of fiscal year 2015 in order to keep the fund's balance above zero, as required by law. In fact, because of the timing of the deposits to the trust fund, DOT has stated that it would need to delay payments if cash balances fell below $4 billion in the highway account or below $1 billion in the transit account. Then, if nothing changes, the trust fund's balance will be insufficient to meet all of its obligations in fiscal year 2016, and the trust fund will incur steadily accumulating shortfalls in subsequent years.
Financial Options for the Highway Trust Fund
Title | Financial Options for the Highway Trust Fund PDF eBook |
Author | Richard R. Mudge |
Publisher | |
Pages | 84 |
Release | 1982 |
Genre | Roads |
ISBN |
Highway Trust Fund and Paying for Highways: Testimony Before the Committee on Finance, U. S. Senate
Title | Highway Trust Fund and Paying for Highways: Testimony Before the Committee on Finance, U. S. Senate PDF eBook |
Author | |
Publisher | DIANE Publishing |
Pages | 34 |
Release | |
Genre | |
ISBN | 1437986021 |
Highway Trust Fund: Options for Improving Sustainability and Mechanisms to Manage Solvency
Title | Highway Trust Fund: Options for Improving Sustainability and Mechanisms to Manage Solvency PDF eBook |
Author | Phillip R. Herr |
Publisher | DIANE Publishing |
Pages | 18 |
Release | 2009-12 |
Genre | Transportation |
ISBN | 1437918441 |
The Highway Account (HA) within the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) is the principal means for funding fed. highway programs. It channels about $33 billion in highway user excise taxes annually to states for highway and related spending. Estimated outlays from the HA exceeded estimated receipts throughout the authorization period -- FY 2005 through 2009. Furthermore, actual HA receipts were lower than had been estimated and the HA balance dropped more rapidly than anticipated, approaching zero in Aug. 2008. This statement summarizes work on: (1) the collection and distribution process for the HA of the HTF; (2) options for improving long-term sustainability of the HTF; and (3) mechanisms to help manage HA solvency. Figures.
Testimony on the Status of the Highway Trust Fund and Options for Paying for Highway Spending
Title | Testimony on the Status of the Highway Trust Fund and Options for Paying for Highway Spending PDF eBook |
Author | |
Publisher | |
Pages | 0 |
Release | 2015 |
Genre | |
ISBN |
Statement for the Record
Title | Statement for the Record PDF eBook |
Author | Sarah Puro |
Publisher | |
Pages | 6 |
Release | 2013 |
Genre | Federal aid to transportation |
ISBN |
The federal government’s surface transportation programs are financed mostly through the Highway Trust Fund, an accounting mechanism in the federal budget that comprises two separate accounts, one for highways and one for mass transit. Revenues credited to those accounts are derived mostly from excise taxes on gasoline and certain other motor fuels. The fund also is credited with interest on its accumulated balances. Spending from the Highway Trust Fund is partly determined by authorization acts that provide budget authority for highway programs, mostly in the form of contract authority.1 How much of that contract authority can be used in a given year is governed by obligation limitations that are customarily set in annual appropriation acts. The Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21, Public Law 112-141) is the most recent authorization for highway and transit programs. (It expires on September 30, 2014.) A total of about $51 billion in contract authority has been provided for fiscal year 2013, and the obligation limitations for this year amount to about $50 billion.
How the Financial Status of the Highway Trust Fund Impacts Surface Transportation Programs
Title | How the Financial Status of the Highway Trust Fund Impacts Surface Transportation Programs PDF eBook |
Author | United States. Congress. House. Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Subcommittee on Highways and Transit |
Publisher | |
Pages | 72 |
Release | 2014 |
Genre | Federal aid to transportation |
ISBN |