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Posts Tagged ‘Congressional Budget Office’

Options for Paying for Highway Spending

Tuesday, July 7th, 2015
Spending for Highways and Transit, by Level of Government, 1956 to 2014

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE
…with its current revenue sources, the Highway Trust Fund cannot support spending at the current rate. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that spending in fiscal year 2015 for highways and transit programs funded from the Highway Trust Fund will be $44 billion and $8 billion, respectively, whereas revenues collected for those purposes are projected to be $34 billion and $5 billion, respectively. By CBO’s estimate, at the end of fiscal year 2015, the balance in the trust fund’s highway account will fall to about $2 billion and the balance in its transit account will be about $1 billion.

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A Conservative Vision for the Future of the Highway Trust Fund

Thursday, June 18th, 2015

Innovation NewsbriefsVol. 26, No. 5 Submitted to the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Finance in response to their invitation for written comments in connection with the hearings on Long-Term Financing of the Highway Trust Fund, June 17, and June 18, 2015 respectively. Many states, facing repeated short-term program extensions and anticipating uncertain prospects for increased […]

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The Highway Trust Fund and Surface Transportation Programs in the Federal Budget

Tuesday, July 1st, 2014
Figure 1: Receipts, Outlays, and Balance or Shortfall for the Highway Trust Fund Under CBO’s April 2014 Baseline

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE
The federal government spends more than $50 billion per year on surface transportation programs, mostly in the form of grants to state and local governments. Much of this spending is for highways and mass transit programs financed through the Highway Trust Fund. Those programs have an unusual treatment in the federal budget, and the way they are classified in the budget facilitates the spending of more money from the trust fund than there are dedicated revenues to support such spending. Those revenues come from excise taxes on the sale of motor fuels, trucks and trailers, and truck tires, and from taxes on the use of certain kinds of vehicles.

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Five Key Differences Between House and Senate Water Transportation Bills

Wednesday, October 23rd, 2013
The House and Senate water transportation bills (WRRDA and WRDA, respectively) have some key differences. Image: Port of Miami container terminal, via PortMiami.

Transportation Issues Daily
The Senate passed its version of a maritime transportation bill (WRDA) last May. The House begins debating its bill (WRRDA) today, so we don’t yet know what the final language will be…But based on the version coming to the House floor for debate, here are five key differences between the two proposals which have financial implications. The first four come courtesy of the Congressional Budget Office, in its Cost Estimate report. The CBO is nonpartisan and produces “independent analyses of budgetary and economic issues to support the Congressional budget process.” The fifth difference is one we’ve written about before, and follow the CBO section.

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Status of the Highway Trust Fund

Wednesday, April 24th, 2013

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE
The federal government’s surface transportation programs are financed mostly through the Highway Trust Fund, an accounting mechanism in the federal budget that comprises two separate accounts, one for highways and one for mass transit. Revenues credited to those accounts are derived mostly from excise taxes on gasoline and certain other motor fuels. The fund also is credited with interest on its accumulated balances.

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Infrastructure Bank: Tricky, But Just Do It

Friday, July 27th, 2012

Transportation Issues Daily Can’t we stop wringing our hands about the concerns of establishing a National Infrastructure Bank and just do it? For years a National Infrastructure Bank has been touted as the “next greatest idea” for financing our most pressing infrastructure needs.  But we don’t seem to get to the next step.  I’ve been […]

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Cleaner Rivers for the National Capital Region: Sharing the Cost

Friday, May 25th, 2012

BROOKINGS INSTITUTE
The nation’s capital, like other older American cities, is partially served by a combined sewer system (CSS) in which pipes carry both storm water and sewage or waste water. In dry weather, waste water flows to the Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant at the southern tip of the District along the Potomac River. After heavy rains, however, the capacity of the combined sewer is often exceeded, and a mixture of sewage an storm water—combined sewer overflows (CSOs)—discharges into the Anacostia and Potomac rivers and Rock Creek, leading ultimately to downstream destinations, including the Chesapeake Bay.

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The Federal Transportation Program and the New Budget Realities

Thursday, April 7th, 2011

As Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan is fond of saying, the debate in Congress has changed from how much we should spend to how much spending we should cut. The April 5 release of his proposed FY 2012 Budget Resolution, subtitled “The Path to Prosperity,” testifies to this new resolve. The New York Times’ David Brooks calls Ryan’s report “the most comprehensive and most courageous budget reform proposal any of us have seen in our lifetimes.” Although the Budget Resolution nominally addresses the FY 2012 budget, its message is likely to resound and influence the debate about fiscal policy and the role of the federal government in the U.S. economy long into the future.

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Alternative Approaches to Funding Highways

Tuesday, March 29th, 2011
Tax Receipts Credited to the Highway Trust Fund, Fiscal Year 2010

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE
By themselves, fuel taxes cannot provide a strong incentive for people to avoid overusing highways-that is, to forgo trips for which the costs to themselves and others exceed the benefits. This study examines broad alternatives for federal funding of highways, focusing on fuel taxes and on taxes that could be assessed on the basis of the number of miles that vehicles travel.

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