Congress got serious Thursday about patching the hole in the Highway Trust Fund, but some differences between the versions drafted by the House and Senate tax-writing committees suggest a standoff that could outlast the dwindling balance in the road-building bank account.
The Department of Transportation has warned state highway departments that without a cash infusion reimbursements could be restricted as of Aug. 1.
And that’s just for the near term. Neither plan tackles the underlying structural weakness in the way the federal government collects and distributes money for surface transportation projects.
On the House side, the Ways and Means Committee held firm to the Republican promise not to raise taxes. Instead, the Highway and Transportation Funding Act of 2014 (HR 5021) would raise $11 billion from existing revenue sources: adjusted pension contributions, extended customs fees and a draw from a trust fund for leaking storage tanks.
The bill, authored by Chairman Dave Camp, would keep the trust fund balance above water through next May – taking the pressure off of Congress to come back after the November elections to deal with a multi-year transportation reauthorization in a lame duck session.
“What troubles me most about a Dec. 31 date are those using it as a ploy to stick the American people with a massive increase in the gas tax – just about the worst tax increase Congress could hit hardworking Americans with,” Camp said in a statement. “So, I am seeking the reasonable middle ground of the end of May 2015.”
In the Senate, a Finance Committee bill from Chairman Ron Wyden and Ranking Member Orrin Hatch also tapped the sources in the House plan, though the pension provision was greatly reduced in the draft and replaced with stricter enforcement of certain elements of the tax code.
