By The Trucker News Services, TheTrucker.com, September 09, 2015
WASHINGTON — The Department of Transportation now says there is enough money in the Highway Trust Fund to keep the Highway Account solvent through the third quarter of FY2016, which will end June 30, 2016, and to keep the Mass Transit Account solvent into the fourth quarter of FY2016.
The DOT had originally reported the funds would run out of money this month.
The new solvency timetable is the result of money transfers from the General Fund to the Highway Trust Fund as authorized by the Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Act of 2015.
But the news came with a warning from DOT officials that said it is important to note that many programs funded through the Highway Trust Fund are only authorized through October 29, 2015, the day the second extension of MAP-21 expires.
“Although sufficient balances exist in the Highway Trust Fund to maintain solvency through the third quarter of FY2016, an October 29 lapse in authorization prevents new obligations in highway and transit program and impacts reimbursement to states,” DOT said.
There is little doubt that everyone from the professional truck driver to the president wants to see Congress pass a long-term surface transportation bill.
The Senate has done so, but without a funding mechanism. The House is expected to work on its own version of such a bill this month.
President Barack Obama has his own version of a long-term bill, but lawmakers point to the lack sufficient funding in the president’s proposal.
