In testimony March 10 before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood cited changes to the current Highway Trust Fund included in the administration’s Fiscal Year 2012 DOT budget request. This proposal includes the first year of a six-year, $556 billion surface transportation authorization plan.

The trust fund plan in the budget proposal would expand the current trust into a new Transportation Trust Fund containing four accounts: one for highways, one for transit, one for high-speed passenger rail, and one for the Infrastructure Bank established in the proposed legislation to finance projects of national or regional significance. The bank, with initial funding of $30 billion over six years, will work with credit markets and private-sector investors to achieve maximum return on federal transportation dollars.

LaHood stated that, consistent with the recommendations of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, “for the first time, the budget proposes to subject surface transportation spending to ‘paygo’ provisions to make certain that spending does not exceed dedicated revenue. This approach is designed to ensure that our surface transportation program is paid for fully without increasing the deficit.”

Share: