U.S. Department of Transportation

Highway Trust Fund: Timeline

Timeline of Congressional Inaction

2006

President Bush’s 2007 budget projects a $2.3 billion cash shortfall in the Highway Account of the HTF in FY 2009, and urges Congress to address it.

  • “[B]alances are on a downward slope,” U.S. DOT Secretary Norm Mineta says. “I know that this committee is aware that the balances in the Highway Trust Fund are on a downward slope. And there is a growing consensus that we will need to look beyond traditional gasoline taxes to finance 21st Century transportation needs.” (U.S. DOT Secretary Norm Y. Mineta, House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Highways, Transit and Pipelines, Testimony, 3/16/06)

 

CONGRESS FAILS TO ACT

2007

President Bush’s 2008 budget to Congress again projects a $2.3 billion cash shortfall in the Highway Account of the fund and proposes measures to narrow the shortfall to $238 million.

  • Secretary Peters testifies at three Congressional budget hearings, noting:  “We continue to be concerned in particular about the solvency of the Highway Account in the Highway Trust Fund.  Our projections suggest that spending may outpace receipts before the end of fiscal year 2009.”

 

In July, the Administration revises shortfall projection for to $4.3 billion for the Highway Account.   

  • Secretary Peters sends a letter to Appropriations Committees emphasizing the need spending restraint.  Secretary Peters says the OMB figures are “a stark reminder that we need to reevaluate our policies for funding and operating the nation’s surface transportation network.”

 

Secretary Peters testifies before the House Budget Committee and warns of the impending shortfall.  “There is intense focus right now on the sustainability of the Federal trust funds that support this increasingly flawed model.  On the highways and transit side, we are currently spending billions of dollars more than we collect in tax revenues.  As a result, the Highway Account of the Highway Trust Fund is projected to experience a substantial cash shortfall.

  • “Resolving the short- and long-term challenges related to the Highway Trust Fund” is a top priority of the Department, (USDOT Inspector General Calvin Scovel III, Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Testimony, 10/18/07)

 

  • Congressional Budget Office warns, “The balance in the Highway Trust Fund will be exhausted at some point….” (Congressional Budget Office Deputy Director Robert A. Sunshine, House Committee on Budget, Testimony, 10/25/07)

INSTEAD OF ACTING TO REDUCE THE SHORTFALL, CONGRESS INCREASES SPENDING BY BILLIONS.

2008

President Bush’s budget projects a shortfall of $3.1 billion and requests legislative authority for repayable advances from the Mass Transit Account to cover the shortfall. 

  • Secretary Peters testifies three times before Congress on the FY 2009 budget, emphasizing the instability of the highway trust fund.  “To honor that commitment [made by SAFETEA-LU], even with an anticipated shortfall in the Highway Account balance of the Highway Trust Fund, the President is requesting temporary authority to allow ‘repayable advances’ between the Highway Account and the Mass Transit Account in the Highway Trust Fund. This flexibility will get us through the current authorization without any impact on transit funding.” 

 

  • Secretary Peters tells the Senate EPW Committee, “It is clear that we are crawling across the finish line, with the Highway Trust Fund’s short term future unclear and its long term future in serious jeopardy.”
  • Vehicle Miles Traveled declines for eight straight months.  Secretary Peters stresses the implications of the decline on the Trust Fund and the need for reform.

 

  • In July, Secretary Peters unveils a plan to “Refocus, Reform, and Renew” the nation’s approach to transportation warning that the country can no longer count on the gas tax to fund the Highway Trust Fund. (Atlanta, GA, 7/29/08)
  • In August, Secretary Peters holds media events in Miami, Fl, Houston, Tx, St. Louis, Mo., Charlotte, N.C., and Somerville, Mass., warning of problems with the Highway Trust Fund if we continue to rely on gas taxes.

 

CONGRESS FAILS TO ACT

Last updated: 9/5/2008