Washington, D.C. – U.S. Rep. John L. Mica (R-FL), the Republican Leader of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, urged the Senate to act quickly to prevent the Highway Account of the Highway Trust Fund from running out of money and causing the cancellation of infrastructure projects across the nation.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) earlier today announced that, in part because Americans are driving less, Trust Fund receipts are declining more dramatically than previously expected. Although the most recent DOT estimates had projected a funding shortfall sometime next year, today’s announcement has the Trust Fund going into the red sometime later this month.
“This is a crisis for the nation,” Mica said. “We are in an economic slowdown, and we cannot afford to start shutting down critical infrastructure projects. These projects are vital to transportation safety and the economy, and provide thousands of well-paying jobs.
“We anticipated solvency problems with the Trust Fund, but those problems have materialized much sooner than expected,” Mica continued. “To address this issue, the Senate must act immediately to pass the Highway Trust Fund Restoration Act, which the House overwhelmingly passed in July. Unless we act now, each state’s highway programs will experience severe disruptions and thousands of highway projects may be delayed or cancelled.”
The Highway Trust Fund depends on taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel and is dedicated to maintaining and improving the nation’s highways and transit systems. The Highway Trust Fund Restoration Act (H.R. 6532), which Mica cosponsored, addresses this looming shortfall by transferring $8 billion from the General Fund to the Highway Trust Fund. The bill passed the House with strong bipartisan support (387 to 37).
“The mechanism for financing highway and transit projects is obsolete,” Mica added. “In the long term, Congress must address this problem in the next multi-year transportation bill. However, our only option to avoid an immediate crisis is to pass H.R. 6532 and make sure the Highway Trust Fund remains solvent.”
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