MENU
SEARCHA new projections from the Congressional Budget Office about where the Highway Trust Fund will be by the end of 2021 illustrates the inherent flaw in how Congress chose to fund the FAST Act. David Cullen explores the ramifications in his "Passing Zone" blog.
Image: U.S. Department of Transportation
The Congressional Budget Office now projects, based on a new 10-year estimate of Highway Trust Fund spending and revenue, that “the country's principal infrastructure investment stream will run dry in 2021,” points out an article posted in the AASHTO Journalfor Feb. 5.
What’s more, the author notes, “unless Congress provides more funding it could rack up a $108 billion cumulative deficit through 2026.”
CBO’s January 2016 Baseline Chart projects that at the start of 2021, the HTF will have a $13 billion balance. At the end of that year, the balance is indicated not by a figure, but a footnote indicator.
The footnote itself states that “The memorandum to this table shows the cumulative shortfall of fund balances, assuming spending levels consistent with levels contained in CBO's January baseline. Those levels are estimated on the basis of spending that would occur if obligations from the fund each year were equal to the obligation limitations enacted for 2016, adjusted for projected inflation. Those amounts are lower than the amounts authorized by the FAST Act [the 5-year highway bill signed into law in December, 2015].
“The illustration won't surprise transportation investment advocates who have long urged Congress to lock in a sustainable source of revenue for the trust fund that could grow as needed to cover its authorized spending levels,” observes the author of the AASHTO Journal article.
The article adds that AASHTO Executive Director Bud Wright said the CBO projection illustrates the inherent flaw in how Congress chose to fund the FAST Act.
"Perhaps the Fast Act's major weakness is that it did not lock in sufficient revenues for the Highway Trust Fund beyond a few years," Wright said. "It kicks the funding question farther down the road, but as the CBO shows it is no lasting solution to our investment needs.
"There are many good things about the new law, especially the program certainty it provides over five years so that state departments of transportation and other agencies can implement long-term plans,” Wright continued. “But its funding constraints will in a few short years push the nation right back to where we were last year– grappling with how to pay our transportation system's bills."
It’s time once more on Capitol Hill to battle over the debt ceiling, rather than conduct the nation’s urgent business, says HDT Business/Washington Contributing Editor David Cullen.
Read More →
It’s likely an infrastructure bill will pass. But how big it will be, and who will pay for it, rides on lots of politicking.
Read More →
The Biden Administration's American Jobs Act, the core of which is infrastructure funding, is on a long road to becoming law – replete with more twists and turns than a mountain highway.
Read More →
As the balance of power in Washington has shifted, trucking likely will see changes in laws and regulations. But how that happens isn't just like the Schoolhouse Rock version of "I'm Just a Bill."
Read More →
What's in store for trucking from the regulators in Washington, D.C., this year? Executive Editor David Cullen says the government wheels move slowly, but hours-of-service is among those to watch in 2020.
Read More →
You can no longer expect to run a motor carrier of any size without at least a glancing appreciation for the impact logistics— in one way or another-- has on every link in the supply chain.
Read More →
What does Trump's revocation of California's vehicle emission waiver mean for the federal Phase 2 GHG emission rules already in place for commercial vehicles? Commentary by Executive Editor David Cullen.
Read More →
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's prep work for the Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse includes amassing an impressive amount of informational guidance online that can be accessed at a dedicated website. Commentary by Executive Editor David Cullen.
Read More →
The managers, executives, and owners of truck operations who are honored each year by Heavy Duty Trucking with our Truck Fleet Innovator awards so often seem to be moving at a fast clip in how they think about things. Blog Commentary by Executive Editor David Cullen.
Read More →
A new advertising and grassroots campaign by ATA might just sell Congress on fixing our roads. Commentary by David Cullen, Executive Editor.
Read More →
