This page is intended to serve as a one-stop reference for information about the federal Highway Trust Fund.

The information is organized into five areas:

– Financial Information

– Recent Legislative Activity

– Analysis and Options from Governmental Entities

– Analysis and Options from Non-Governmental Organizations

– Historical Articles and Papers

Highway Trust Fund 101

– Everything you need to know about the Highway Trust Fund and much, much more.

FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Forecasts of future operations:

• March 2020 Treasury Bulletin (see Table TF-6A on page 97 for the Administration’s 5-year projections of Highway Trust Fund cash flow and Byrd Test calculations). (Does not reflect COVID-19’s effects on the economy and tax receipts.)
• Congressional Budget Office Highway Trust Fund Cash Flow Baseline – March 2020 (Does not reflect COVID-19’s effects on the economy and tax receipts.)
• Congressional Budget Office Highway Trust Fund Tax Receipt Baseline – March 2020 (see tab for “Excise Taxes”) (Does not reflect COVID-19’s effects on the economy and tax receipts.)

Ongoing current fiscal year operations:

• Federal Highway Administration HTF monthly cash flow, FY 2020 ongoing (Table FE-1)

Operations in prior fiscal years:

• March 2020 Treasury Bulletin (Table TF-6 on page 96 has the complete FY 2019 cash flow.)
• Federal Highway Administration HTF annual cash flow, FY 1957 – FY 2018 (Table FE-210)
• Compilation of annual Treasury Department reports on HTF operations, 1957 through FY 2019.
• Summary table of transfers to the Highway Trust Fund from other federal funds by special legislation, 2008 through the FAST Act in December 2015.

State-by-state Highway Account dollars in versus dollars out:

• Federal Highway Administration HTF Highway Account cumulative cash flow attributed to each state, FY 1957-2018 (Table FE-221)
• Federal Highway Administration HTF Highway Account state-by-state receipts and apportionments/allocations for each of fiscal years 2009-2018 (Table FE-221B)
• Federal Highway Administration Highway Trust Fund state-by-state attributed tax receipts to both Highway Account and Mass Transit Account, FY 2018 (Table FE-9)

RECENT LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITY

List of HTF authorization laws and short-term extensions of Highway Trust Fund spending authority, 2003 through the FAST Act.

House Highway Trust Fund Reauthorization Legislation:

Investing in a New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation in America Act: Bill text as introduced; 2-page fact sheet; 10-page executive summary; section-by-section summary;

Senate Highway Trust Fund Reauthorization Legislation:

• (Highway title) – America’s Transportation Infrastructure Act of 2019 (S. 2302): Bill text as introduced; Environment and Public Works Committee markup session; bill text as reported to the Senate, amended; Senate committee report 116-200, Congressional Budget Office score of S. 2302 as reported.

ANALYSIS AND OPTIONS FROM GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES

Congressional Budget Office: Reauthorizing Federal Highway Programs: Issues and Options (May 2020)

Congressional Research Service: Funding and Financing Highways and Public Transportation (May 2020)

Congressional Research Service: Reauthorization of Federal Highway Programs (April 2020)

Congressional Research Service: Reauthorization of the Federal Public Transportation Program (January 2020)

Government Accountability Office: Federal Trust Funds and Other Dedicated Funds: Fiscal Sustainability Is a Growing Concern for Some Key Funds (January 2020)

Joint Committee on Taxation: Overview Of Selected Provisions And Options Relating To Funding And Financing Infrastructure Investments (January 2020)

Congressional Budget Office: Issues and Options for a Tax on Vehicle Miles Traveled by Commercial Trucks (October 2019)

Federal Highway Administration – Highway Trust Fund and Taxes (fact sheet, February 2017)

Federal Highway Administration – Funding Federal-Aid Highways (January 2017)

Congressional Research Service: The Federal Excise Tax on Motor Fuels and the Highway Trust Fund: Current Law and Legislative History (February 2016)

Congressional Budget Office – The Highway Trust Fund and the Treatment of Surface Transportation Programs in the Federal Budget (2014)

Government Accountability Office – Highway Trust Fund: All States Received More Funding Than They Contributed in Highway Taxes from 2005 to 2009 (2011)

National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission – Final Report (2009)

National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission – Final Report (2008)

ANALYSIS AND OPTIONS FROM NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS

The Life and Death of the Highway Trust Fund: How We Pay For Transportation (Eno Center for Transportation, 2014)

What is the Highway Trust Fund, and How Is It Financed? (Tax Policy Center, 2020)

The Highway Trust Fund Has A Numbers Problem (Bipartisan Policy Center, 2019)

The Road to the Next Federal Highway & Public Transit Investment Bill (ARTBA, 2019)

The Highway Trust Fund, Explained (Peter G. Peterson Foundation, 2018)

Ditching the Gas Tax: Switching to a Vehicle Miles Traveled Tax to Safe the Highway Trust Fund (Brookings Institution, 2017)

The Road to Sustainable Highway Spending (Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, 2015)

Options to Fix the Highway Trust Fund (Tax Foundation, 2015)

Financing U.S. Transportation Infrastructure in the 21st Century (Brookings Institution – Hamilton Project, 2015)

Tools for Replacing the Federal Gas Tax (Transportation for America, 2015)

Getting Beyond Gridlock (American Road and Transportation Builders Association, 2015)

Highway Trust Fund Basics: A Primer on Federal Surface Transportation Spending (Heritage Foundation, 2015)

Reforming the Highway Trust Fund (Cato Institute, 2015)

Switching from a Gas Tax to a Mileage-Based User Fee (Center for American Progress, 2014)

A Primer on Federal Surface Transportation Reauthorization and the Highway Trust Fund (Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, 2014)

Strategies for Defining the Core Federal Role in Surface Transportation (Bipartisan Policy Center, 2011)

Restoring Trust in the Highway Trust Fund (Reason Foundation, 2010)

HISTORICAL ARTICLES AND PAPERS

Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956: Creating the Interstate System (Federal Highway Administration)

1959 – The First Time the Highway Trust Fund Went Broke (Eno Center for Transportation) – summary overview, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

The Johnson-Nixon Mass Transit Bill of 1968-1969 (Eno Center for Transportation)

Busting the Trust: Unraveling the Highway Trust Fund, 1968-1978 (Federal Highway Administration)

Mending or Ending the Highway Trust Fund – The Great Debate of 1978 (Eno Center for Transportation) – Part 1, Part 2

Reagan Devolution: The Real Story of the 1982 Gas Tax Increase (Eno Center for Transportation) plus an overview presentation and a 506-page PDF compilation of original documents from the Reagan Library detailing the decision-making process.

Ten Years of Highway Trust Fund Bankruptcy: Why Did It Happen, and What Have We Learned? (Eno Center for Transportation)