| Feb. 1 -- The Highway
Trust Fund likely will need yet another influx of cash from the United
States' General Fund, according to numbers released by the
Congressional Budget Office (CBO) at the end of January. CBO released its January 2010 economic forecast the last week of January, and it includes estimates on Highway Trust Fund revenue and balances for the coming year, as well as projections for the next 10 years, reported the Associated General Contractors. CBO estimates that the Highway Account of the trust fund will have an end-of-year balance of about $3 billion, or less than one month’s spending during summer months. An end-of-year balance this low would mean the Highway Account will be unable to meet obligations in a timely manner again this year without a transfer of funds from the general fund, or other revenue source, AGC said. CBO estimates that the Mass Transit Account will have an end of year balance of $2.9 billion. CBO estimates that without further action, the Mass Transit Account will likely have cash flow problems similar to the Highway Account during fiscal year 2011. If the Highway Trust Fund’s balance gets low enough, spending on highway and transit programs would be slowed, AGC said, adding the U.S. Department of Transportation indicated that if the fund reached this level, it would reimburse states at a prorated amount in order to maintain a positive balance in the fund. In the past year, Congress has made two transfers of revenue to the HTF totaling $15 billion, to keep payments to states flowing in a timely fashion. In response to current and future shortfalls in conventional revenue streams to the HTF -- like the federal tax on fuel and excise taxes on tires -- stakeholders have studied funding alternatives, but none have come to fruition. Two years ago the National Surface Transportation and Revenue Study Commission has released its Report to Congress on alternative revenue streams, but nothing concrete has resulted. See our article for Better Roads, Can Blue-Ribbon Group Bridge the Funding Gap? |