The United States Department of Transportation recently updated its Highway Trust Fund Ticker, and the projections are not good. If Congress fails to intervene, the highway account will dip below its critical $4 billion balance by the end of July and will be insolvent the first week of September. According to the department, if no new revenue is found for the trust fund, federal officials may consider implementing cash management procedures to manage the flow of federal dollars. If that happens, reimbursements to states for infrastructure work will be limited to the available cash in the trust fund.
This week, two congressional committees held hearings exploring the use of repatriation to fill the Highway Trust Fund revenue gap and additional financing for transportation infrastructure, respectively. Congress must identify sources of revenue to fill the gap and pass a long-term transportation bill before the end of July, when the current extension expires, in order to keep highway & bridge construction projects running. Íæż½ã½ã continues to push for a permanent fix for the Highway Trust Fund and supports innovative financing options that would increase the use of public-private partnerships, among other measures, to address our nation’s transportation infrastructure needs.
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved the Íæż½ã½ã-supported DRIVE Act, a six-year bill with increased funding recommendations and several new program initiatives. The Committee has jurisdiction over the highway portion of the legislation and now must await action by the Finance Committee on the revenue portion, the Banking Committee on the transit segments, and the Commerce Committee on safety.
Nevertheless, it was an important first step in the process. Íæż½ã½ã CEO Stephen Sandherr participated in a press conference with the bill’s primary sponsors, Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) and ranking member Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), where Sandherr noted that getting a long-term bill is vital and failure to act will have real impact on commuters’ wallets and the economy’s performance.
The Íæż½ã½ã co-chaired Transportation Construction Coalition launched a new nationwide advertising push this week designed to encourage Congress to fix the Highway Trust Fund. The new campaign, which includes TV and radio spots, as well as targeted digital advertising, is being targeted at members of Congress and politically active commuters in key Congressional districts. These commuters are being asked to sign a new petition that can be found on FixTheTrustFund.org. The advertising effort is designed to complement Íæż½ã½ã's Drive Better Roads campaign and similar efforts being coordinated by other member organizations of the Coalition.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) announced that the committee will hold a hearing on long-term financing of the Highway Trust Fund. The hearing will take place Wednesday, June 17 and, according to the announcement, will explore the feasibility of various ideas to provide a sustainable long-term solution to the Highway Trust Fund shortfall. It was not announced who the witnesses will be. Íæż½ã½ã will once again provide the committee with suggestions for increasing trust fund revenue while maintaining the user-fee concept.
This week, by a vote of 216-210, the House approved the FY 2016 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) appropriations bill. The bill includes funding for the Department of Transportation, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and other related agencies. The legislation assumes that Congress will take action to provide the necessary revenue for the Highway Trust Fund to support the highway and transit funding levels, noted below.
With just seven weeks until the most-recent extension for highway & transit programs expires – on July 31 – the Fourth of July Congressional recess is the perfect opportunity for you to schedule an in-person meeting with your Senators and Representative. Use this time to educate your members of Congress on the real impacts their inaction has had on your business and employees. Spread theHardhats for Highways message and tell them to fix the Highway Trust Fund and pass a long-term highway & transit bill.
With just seven weeks until the most-recent extension for highway & transit programs expires – on July 31 – the Fourth of July Congressional recess is the perfect opportunity for you to schedule an in-person meeting with your Senators and Representative. Use this time to educate your members of Congress on the real impacts their inaction has had on your business and employees. Spread theHardhats for Highways message and tell them to fix the Highway Trust Fund and pass a long-term highway & transit bill.
One of the last steps the Senate took before leaving for its Memorial Day recess was to approve a House-passed bill extending the federal highway program until July 31, 2015. The new expiration date coincides with when the Highway Trust Fund is expected to approach a zero balance. If Congress can’t identify more federal transportation funds by the end of July, the Department of Transportation will be forced to cut reimbursement funding to states for ongoing projects. Congress settled on the two month extension after failing to find money to keep the Highway Trust Fund solvent through the end of the calendar year. U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said the president will sign the bill but urged Congress to take action on a long-term authorization and funding bill.
Now that Congress is poised to pass a 60-day extension of highway program, the Memorial Day recess is a good opportunity for you to schedule a meeting with your Senators and Representative to educate them on the difficulties these short term extensions cause you, your business, your employees and your state. Visit Hardhats For Highways to get help scheduling a meeting and delivering a special hardhat explaining how many workers at your company rely on federal transportation funding for their job. If an in-person visit is not possible, please send an email message through the Hardhats for Highways website and have your employees do so as well. Congress needs to understand that now is the time to complete action on a long-term funding bill.