Bankruptcy Ahead, Warns CBO On Highway Trust Fund

Treasury Secretary Ray LaHood warned Congress that according to a recent Congressional Budget Office report, the Highway Trust Fund will be broke come fiscal year 2014, due largely to more fuel-efficient vehicles and less driving.

February 4, 2012, 11am PST | Irvin Dawid

The Hill blog fails to mention the failure of the federal government to raise the gas tax, the main revenue source of the trust fund, unchanged since 1993, as a reason for its approaching bankruptcy.

"The federal gas tax, which is currently 18.4 cents per gallon, brings in approximately $100 million per day in revenue. But Lawmakers in Congress are discussing a new highway bill which in the Senate would spent between $13 and $14 billion per year more than the $36 billion the gas tax brings in annually."

Each party has a different idea for how to make up the difference in gas tax revenues and projected transportation spending. For Democrats, "That's why the president talked about a transportation bill and a jobs bill, he talked about using some of the money from the two (Iraq and Afghanistan) wars," stated LaHood.

For Republicans, The House transportation bill, proposes to make up the difference with new gas and oil drilling royalties (some of which would flow from the proposed Keystone Pipeline project).

Thanks to Mark Boshnack

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CBO reports highway trust fund headed for bankruptcy in 2014

Published on Tuesday, January 31, 2012 in The Hill's Transportation Blog