Limit Highway Trust Fund Spending to Revenues

Federal gasoline and diesel taxes are passed on to motorists, bus operators, and truckers at the pump, and then deposited into the federal HTF along with related fees. Past federal highway authorization bills increased HTF spending levels, permitting Congress to spend down the fund’s accumulated balance. Beginning in 2008, Congress was spending more out of the HTF than was brought in as revenue. Since 2008, Congress has repeatedly bailed out the HTF by transferring amounts from the Treasury’s General Fund, for a total bailout of about $62 billion. A six-year reauthorization bill would need to fill a $90 billion gap between spending and revenue ($15 billion a year).Going forward, inflation, fuel economy standards, vehicle efficiency, and steady levels of vehicle miles traveled will mean lower or stagnant levels of revenue deposited into the HTF. But until recently, inflation and overspending have been the main drivers of decreased revenue and purchasing power. Congress diverts at least 25 percent of HTF dollars to non-road, non-bridge projects, including bicycle¹ and nature paths, sidewalks, subways and buses, landscaping, and related low-priority and purely local activities.

Congress should limit HTF spending to revenues collected and refocus the federal highway program to encompass only Interstate Highway System maintenance and expansion, and a few other federal priorities, letting the states or private sector take over the other activities if they value them. Doing so would free up valuable HTF money for road and bridge projects that will benefit those motorists paying for the program in the first place.