Foxx Calls on Congress to Boost Highway Trust Fund

WASHINGTON — Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx ramped up his call May 13 for congressional leaders to fund infrastructure projects around the country by shoring up a federal highway account that is expected to be insolvent in August.

The federal Highway Trust Fund is used by states to pay for certain projects, and according to the DOT, the account will lack the funds to support projects at the state level in the coming months. Financial uncertainty stemming from the fund’s looming insolvency has led officials at several states to delay or halt certain construction projects.

“The moment is dire, and I’ve said that publicly and it’s true,” Foxx said at a May 13 Bloomberg Government forum. “We’re about to be at a point where our obligations are going to exceed our ability to pay those responsibilities out.”

Foxx has been sounding the alarm about the depleting trust fund and the country's aging infrastructure in increasingly severe terms since visiting freight facilities and major transportation corridors last month.

On April 29, Foxx sent Congress a four-year, $302 billion highway bill that proposes reforms to certain corporate taxes as a way to bolster the trust fund. According to the Obama administration, those tax reforms would generate about $150 billion in revenue.

Senate transportation policy writers are scheduled to consider a six-year bill on May 15 that would authorize spending $38.4 billion on the trust fund’s federal aid highways part for fiscal 2015. House transportation leaders have yet to unveil their legislative proposal.

Related stories:

Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) presses for fuel-tax hike.

Key Senate committee unveils six-year highway bill.

Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) urges action on his infrastructure bill.

More coverage of Infrastructure Week will be included in the May 19 print edition of Transport Topics.