Overhead view of Sacramento

Federal Funding for Highways and Transportation Saved by House Vote

October 4, 2017
Press Release

Today, Rep. Doris Matsui (CA-05) hailed passage of the Highway Trust Fund Restoration Act (H.R. 6532). H.R. 6532 will address a projected shortfall in the Highway Trust Fund and help achieve the necessary funding levels for highways and public transportation authorized by SAFETEA-LU of 2005.

Federal Funding for Highways and Transportation Saved by House Vote

Rep. Matsui Says Legislation Will Save Californian Jobs, Improve Highways

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Rep. Doris Matsui (CA-05) hailed passage of the Highway Trust Fund Restoration Act (H.R. 6532). H.R. 6532 will address a projected shortfall in the Highway Trust Fund and help achieve the necessary funding levels for highways and public transportation authorized by SAFETEA-LU of 2005.

andquot;As Americans have driven less and less, the tax revenues that preserve, maintain, and improve our roadways have decreased. Without the bill we passed today, our transportation infrastructure that our communities depend on would have suffered,andquot; said Rep. Matsui.

andquot;Investing in our infrastructure is a proven way to bring stability to our economy. The Highway Trust Fund Restoration Act will save over 32,000 jobs in California and invest in a better, more secure and prosperous future for our region,andquot; said Rep. Matsui.

  • The bill restores $8.017 billion to the Highway Trust Fund. The bill restores $8.017 billion in highway-user taxes to the Highway Trust Fund that were transferred from the Trust Fund in 1998. Specifically, in 1998, in response to concerns that the Highway Account's $16.5 billion balance was too large, Congress transferred more than $8 billion from the Highway Trust Fund to the General Fund. Now that the Highway Trust Fund faces major shortfalls in 2009 and beyond.
  • Without this bill, forecasts indicate a major shortfall in the Highway Trust Fund in FY 2009. Forecasts indicate a shortfall of several billion dollars to the Highway Trust Fund in FY 2009, the last year of the SAFETEA-LU authorization. In addition, the Federal Highway Administration recently reported that estimated miles traveled on U.S. public roads dropped 11 billion miles between March 2007 and March 2008, the first year-to-year reduction since 1979. As Americans drive less and purchase less fuel, the Highway Trust Fund's shortfall will continue to worsen.
  • Failing to enact this bill could trigger funding cuts in federal highway funds to states of about 34 percent. According to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), failing to enact this bill could lead to a devastating $14 billion, or 34 percent, reduction in federal highway investment in FY 2009. A 34 percent cut in each state's highway funds would lead to the loss of nearly 380,000 jobs at a time when we are attempting to revive the U.S. economy.

andquot;It is critical that we preserve the transportation systems that our predecessors created. Public safety and our economy rely on it. It is simply a matter of Congress acting diligently and responsibly to ensure the safety of our constituents and well being of our economy,andquot; said Rep. Matsui.

###