April 11, 2018 – The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office this week released its annual Budget and Economic Outlook which is accompanied by its initial annual spending and revenue baseline estimates for Congressional committees.
March 15, 2018 – Last Friday, the Treasury Department released the quarterly Treasury Bulletin, a publication containing a trove of data about all kinds of federal fiscal dealings. The March bulletin of each year is notable because that is the annual issue that contains detailed end-of-year summaries of, and out-year projections for, all federal trust funds.
March 9, 2018 – This week, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) threw cold water on discussions of a possible federal motor fuels tax increase to fund Highway Trust Fund solvency and/or an infrastructure initiative.
February 14, 2018 – The fiscal 2019 budget request from the Trump Administration scrupulously fulfills all of the promises made by the FAST Act for Highway Trust Fund financial resources for the year covered by the budget.
October 27, 2017 – This week, White House economic czar Gary Cohn broached the idea of an increase in federal gasoline and diesel fuel excise taxes as a possible “pay-for” for an infrastructure initiative.
October 20, 2017 – This week, the Treasury Department released the financial totals for federal trust fund accounts for the fiscal year that ended on September 30, 2017.
The following chart shows Highway Trust Fund annual new spending obligation authority granted by Congress (obligation limitations, exempt-from-obligation contract authority, and direct appropriations), net tax receipts, and average annual bailout transfers from the general fund or LUST Trust Fund (starting in 2008), in billions of dollars.
July 7, 2017 – The Congressional Budget Office on July 5 updated its semiannual forecast of Highway Trust Fund cash flow issued the week before due to a spreadsheet error in the Highway Account.
June 30, 2017 – Yesterday afternoon, the Congressional Budget Office issued its official budget baseline for fiscal 2018, including an updated projection for the fiscal solvency of the Highway Trust Fund.
May 25, 2017 – The President’s budget fulfills all FAST Act authorizations for highway funding in 2018 but promises cuts and delays starting in 2019.
March 23, 2017 – This week, Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), the ranking minority member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, introduced a bill to infuse tens of billions of dollars per year into the Highway Trust Fund immediately, to be repaid through annual indexation increases in the federal gasoline and diesel fuel excise taxes.
February 8, 2017 – Recently, President Trump received unsolicited advice on transportation infrastructure financing from two different sources – stakeholder groups, and Rep. Peter DeFazio.
January 25, 2017 – Yesterday, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released its annual Budget and Economic Outlook, this one covering the ongoing fiscal year (2017) and the ten-year 2018-2027 period.
November 30, 2016 – Today, the outgoing chairman of the House Budget Committee, Tom Price (R-GA), released a long-gestating budget process reform plan that would make fundamental changes in the way Congress considers Highway Trust Fund and Airport and Airway Trust Fund programs.
October 26, 2016 – The Treasury Department and other federal agencies have released the initial financial results of the federal transportation trust funds for fiscal year 2016, which ended almost four weeks ago.
August 24, 2016 – New budget estimates from the Congressional Budget Office continue to show a dismal long-term federal fiscal picture and a slight deterioration in the projected finances of the Highway Trust Fund.
August 24, 2016 – A new GAO report says that vendors of jet fuel for general aviation have contributed up to $2 billion to the Highway Trust Fund over the last decade.
August 17, 2016 – New fuel economy standards for heavy trucks proposed this week will have a significant long-term effect on the finances of the federal Highway Trust Fund.
The 2016 Republican National Convention has adopted its platform, and a draft Democratic platform may have some of its gaps filled in later with specifics from a new report from a progressive think tank.
June 15, 2016 – The U.S.