House passes Highway Trust Fund fix; President next to sign

The House of Representatives Sep. 11 approved H.R. 6532 transferring $8 billion from the general fund of the Treasury to the Highway Trust Fund. The vote was 376 in favor and 29 Republicans voting against. House action was necessary because the original version of H.R. 6532 transferred the funds on Oct. 1. The Senate Sep. 10 amended the bill to allow the transfer to happen when the president signs the bill, which is expected by the end of the week of Sep. 8. This immediate transfer was necessary because the HTF does not have a sufficient balance to fully reimburse states for payments they have made on ongoing federal-aid highway contracts. Once the bill is signed, FHWA will resume its long-standing procedure of reimbursing states on a daily basis for the full amount submitted.

The transfer of these funds reimburses the HTF for $8 billion that was taken from the HTF in 1998, as part of the TEA-21 negotiations. At that time, the HTF had a large balance and the $8 billion was a trade-off for firewall protection of the HTF and funding guarantees. With this action completed, there should be a sufficient balance to fully fund SAFETEA-LU through its full authorization period, which expires on Sep. 30, 2009.

"We commend the House and Senate for approving bipartisan legislation that will prevent the short-term insolvency of the federal Highway Trust Fund," said ARTBA president Pete Ruane.