Spending Bill Funds MAP-21Highway Program Through End of Fiscal Year; Trust Fund Still in Danger of Running Out of Cash by Early September

The House voted 359-67 on January 15 and the Senate voted 72-26 on January 16 to pass a $1.1 trillion spending measure that funds the entire government through September 30. The bill appropriates the full authorized MAP-21 $40.265 billion for highway programs. In the past, appropriators have taken it upon themselves to adjust spending to help prevent the Highway Trust Fund from running out of money before the end of the year; they did not do that this time. The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) estimates that the Highway Trust Fund will be out of cash in early September, leaving it up to the authorizing (House Transportation and Infrastructure, Senate Environment and Public Works) and tax (House Ways & Means, Senate Finance) committees to enact a solution before the Trust Fund defaults.

USDOT recently started publishing a Highway Trust Fund Ticker on its Web site. NRMCA is meeting with members of the tax committees to educate staff about the Highway Trust Fund status and encourage them to start working on solutions to the funding issue before this becomes a crisis.