This week, the chairmen of the House and Senate Budget Committees released their 2016 budgets with the House panel passing their bill on a party line vote. The Senate Budget Committee is expected to pass their bill later today.
In terms of transportation and the Highway Trust Fund (HTF), both budgets establish “reserve funds” that would allow Congress to identify additional revenue streams and increase investment levels beyond what the HTF can currently support. The House budget once again requires that any transfers from the general fund to the Highway Trust Fund be fully offset, while the Senate bill would allow any General Fund transfers to the HTF to be offset over ten fiscal years, instead of the year the transfer occurs. In addition, the Senate bill prohibits all transfers from other federal trust funds to the HTF. Both the House and Senate budgets require any HTF revenue package be deficit-neutral.
The House and Senate budget resolutions further emphasizes the fact that Congress needs to act immediately to ensure the solvency of the Highway Trust Fund and to allow for a full reauthorization of MAP-21.
For more information, please contact Sean O’Neill at oneills@agc.org or (202) 547-8892. Return to Top